Human rights: dialogue with civil society
German foreign policy seeks to improve the human rights situation in countries where there is cause for concern. Civil society is regularly consulted in order to obtain its views on the present and future of German human rights policy.
Involving civil society in human rights discourse at national and international level is one of the goals of the Federal Government's human rights policy. The idea is that strong civil society engagement is the best way of preventing abuse of power by the state and guarding against human rights violations. The Federal Government has also further intensified its own dialogue with civil society on the state of human rights in Germany and around the world.
The Federal Government Human Rights Commissioner considers liaising between the government and civil society to be one of his key tasks.
Since the year 2000, the Federal Foreign Minister has also participated in the dialogue with civil society. Until 2007, this dialogue included an annual meeting with the Forum Menschenrechte (Human Rights Forum).
The Forum Menschenrechte brings together more than forty German civil society organizations active in the field of human rights. These organizations play an important role in helping the Federal Government draw up its human rights policy. Consultations between the Federal Foreign Office and the Forum Menschenrechte have taken place since 2000.
The establishment of the "Tegel Circle" in July 2008 created a new forum for dialogue, which includes not only members and representatives of the Forum Menschenrechte but also brings on board other bodies such as the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR).
The Federal Government considers the work of respected non-governmental organizations to be indispensable in the human rights sphere. We would be much poorer in terms of information and findings without the work of the NGOs, which often takes place far from national capitals.
In contrast, it is the job of the Federal Government to be active at European and UN level. There can be no doubt – constant efforts on the part of both government representatives and NGOs are needed if we are to successfully promote human rights.
The aim of German foreign policy, in the human rights field as elsewhere, is to analyse situations carefully and thereby identify scope for political action, and then to try to support change in partner countries by means of concrete projects, such as our dialogues on the rule of law. While NGOs can pull off spectacular stunts to focus the world's attention on specific problems, politicians have to work in an environment in which one step too far can bring dialogue to a halt.
Cooperation with other countries cannot start only when they meet all human rights standards. Cooperation is always a case of working together in the hope that improvement will come slowly, step by step. Rule of law dialogue and human rights dialogue have so far always proved to be valuable instruments.
Last updated 02.09.2008
