Saying what we mean. Meaning what we say. Together.

• Position: Human rights issues

I say "together" in the sense that we need to forge coalitions of concern on human rights issues. "Together" in the sense that we require effective ways of simultaneously advancing the two fundamental, indivisible and interdependent sets of rights: civil and political rights, and economic, social and cultural rights. "Together" in the sense that we require greater effort to ensure that our local, national, regional and multi-lateral approaches to human rights complement and reinforce each other.

These are issues which I have addressed in various ways on other occasions. Indeed, they permeated discussion at the Council of Europe Interregional meeting in Strasbourg at which I was honoured to act as rapporteur in the lead up to the World Conference in Vienna. The intervening four years have not blunted the urgency of the discussion.

And during these past few years, I have learned to value, with humility, the leadership on human rights issues which I have witnessed in difficult contexts and at different levels. In March of this year, for example, I returned to Rwanda to take part in a Pan African Women's Conference on Peace, Gender and Development. I was deeply impressed by the eloquence, passion and commitment of the women leaders from the 19 African countries represented, who wasted no time, took the Beijing Programme of Action as a benchmark and were determined to devise practical measures to implement it on the ground. Between conference sessions, I also had a meeting with about 30 representatives of a local women's network, "ProFemmes".

Each of these women represented a small, underfunded group dealing with the victims of the genocidal killing, the widows, orphans, homeless, rape victims and other wounded and traumatized. As I sat and heard their stories, and admired their commitment to promoting reconciliation while they rebuilt their lives and their communities, I was conscious that although they lacked access to minimal material resources, they had harnessed great energies and empowered themselves to cope with daunting problems.

Their insights have prompted me to look at the issue of tensions - real or perceived - between the developed and the developing world on issues of human rights protection. The reality is of course more complex, more differentiated than the broad brush picture often presented. But I believe there is a problem which we need to recognize and jointly address.

We are told about the different agendas of the developing and developed world, the different groupings in which they frequently find themselves in bodies such as the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Stepping back from the debates about tactics, procedures and mechanisms, we need to constantly remind ourselves of the objectives of international human rights action. Everything begins and ends with a determination to secure a life of dignity - a truly human quality of life - for all the people in whose names we act. That is the only true measure of the worth of...