By Gamal Nkrumah Fundamental changes are taking place in the Middle East and Africa at the moment. The freedom to debate has become prerequisite for a vibrant democracy -- the new rubric in the era of political liberalisation. Freedom of expression and association has emerged as the forerunner of radical political reform in the region. The very essence of multiparty pluralism. If the freedom to choose one's terminology is called into question, then democracy is found wanting. The peoples of some of the most impoverished and politically volatile countries in the world today yearn for more freedoms in all spheres of life. Then there is Internet. Bloggers, too, have also entered the political arena in a very big way. Their views count, their words and photographs have tremendous impact. Even the mobile phone, nowadays, wields considerable political clout. As developing countries, the glaring disparities in levels of income, inevitably engenders a host of social, political and economic woes. From adolescent crime and juvenile delinquency, street children, child labour, joblessness and other problems associated with the rights of children and youth. These problems are compounded when children and youth hail from emotionally or physically abusive homes. Respect for human rights and prospects of development are inextricably intertwined. Human rights organisations, both local and global such as Amnesty International (AI) which received 1977 Nobel Peace Prize, have a vital role to play. AI's reports have become mandatory reading in legislature and foreign ministries. The works of Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King -- the latter two advocating non-violent resistance and civil disobedience. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a blueprint for the evaluation of rights. The UN General Assembly adopted the UDHR on 10 December 1948. theorist Thomas Paine's world renowned essay The Rights of Man is yet another blueprint for rights. But, what about the rights of woman? Women's rights are of paramount importance. Pejorative labeling sometimes relegate women's rights to the realm of non-priorities. Be that as it may, the state of women's rights is critically important for a country's socio-economic development. The issues of women's and children's rights address the interplay of a variety of socio-political forces. They emphasise strengthening advocacy groups, the promotion of access to justice, the protection of civil, political, economic, social, health, educational and cultural rights. Upholding the rights of most vulnerable groups in society must be seen as a policy priority. The poor are most often prey to every kind of abuse. While good progress has been made in certain respects, there is still a long way to go in others. The countries of the continent of Africa and the Arab world are at varying degrees of democratisation and development. Some have the dubious distinction of being some of the world's worst human rights offenders, adopting policies that deliberately disregard or are contemptuous of human rights. Brutal working conditions abound and barbarous acts are committed. Others have adopted piecemeal Western notions of human rights. The South African Constitution, for example, was the first to outlaw discrimination on the grounds of sexual preference. However, what everyone, except perhaps the neo- conservatives, agrees upon is that poverty must be eliminated and women empowered. Professor Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi founder of Grameen Bank was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for pioneerubf the use of micro-credit for the poor -- 97 per cent of the borrowers are women. His is a vision of a poverty-free world.
