Human Rights movement in Manipur needs to form a steering committee where all will participate in decision-making, thus preventing violation, humiliation and injustice of our rights.

It was fortunate to attend the International Human Rights Day observation, organised by United Nations Association of Manipur (UNAM) at Central Agricultural University. The theme of the observation was "Human Rights Violations and its Solution in Manipur".

Prominent among them were RK Rajendra Singh, Yambem Laba, RK Anand, Prof. W Ingo Meetei, Kh. Jibon and Dr. N Iboton Singh. These eminent resource persons gave valuable suggestions and accounts of the human rights movement in Manipur.

The thought provoking speech of Acting President of UNAM, Dr. Naorem Iboton Singh on creating a Human Rights City saw effective solution on human rights violation. This is a historic initiative in which programs will be developed to examine traditional beliefs, collective memory and aspirations as related to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The concept of the Human Rights Cities was launched by People's Movement for Human Rights Education in 1997. Such Human Rights Cities will assure that all laws, policies, resources and relationships in the community, maintain the dignity and serve the well being of all its membership.

At present, four cities are implementing worldwide. These are: Rosario in Argentina; Thies in Senegal; Nagpur in India and Kati in Mali. Three more cities are likely to join this effort in the Philippines, Bangladesh, and Austria. These cities were selected on the basis of a demonstrated widespread commitment to human rights among a range of civil society actors and of past success with other projects in these countries.

Human Rights City is one in which all its members, from policy makers to ordinary citizens, learn about and adhere to human rights obligations. Relating international human rights norms to their own immediate and practical concerns, they join and make a commitment to initiate a community-wide dialogue for the purpose of developing the guidelines of their Human Rights City.

They develop the methodology to ensure that all decisions, laws, policies, resource allocation and relationships are bound by human rights norms and standards at all levels of the decision-making and problem-solving process. They ensure that human rights serve as guiding principles by which the community develops its future plans and institutions.

Local and highly committed activists need to identify all civil society organisations, solidarity groups, governmental and UN agencies, and all other institutions concerned with the social and economic issues vital to the community, such as: Children, culture, development, education, environment, food, health, housing, migrant workers, peace, poverty alleviation, refugees, security, water, women, work.

Each citizen will be asked to: Become a human rights 'educator', bringing human rights into everyday discourse in the family and community. Just as parents can bring human rights into their homes and teach their children about the dignity of themselves and of all people, educators can insert human rights into all community dialogue, reaffirming the connection between human rights and justice for all.

Become a human right 'monitor'. Aware of their government's human rights obligations, people will develop sensitivity to human rights, and will be able to look at their life and development with a human rights perspective. They will be asked to monitor violations of human rights in the community, as well as progress towards human rights implementation.

Become a human rights 'documenter'. Effective human rights advocacy requires careful documentation. In communities where illiteracy is a problem, a local 'recorder' can be appointed to whom citizens can come and document the human rights violations as well as any progress towards implementation, which they have observed and monitored.

Members of the community will be encouraged to bring creativity into these processes, using testimony, community and city hall meetings, street theatre, and informal community discussions.

The results of monitoring and documentation can then be collected and shared to ensure the inclusion of the full and holistic spectrum of the community's individual and collective human rights needs and to provide a systemic analysis of human rights violations. Vital to human rights advocacy is the creation of mechanisms for accountability.

For a community to become a Sustainable Human Rights City, citizens must participate in the decisions that determine their lives and ensure that all institutions which service the community become "human rights institutions," abiding fully by human rights norms and standards.

The process of learning, monitoring, documenting, etc., will lead to the development of the immediate and long-term action plans to achieve this goal. Community members will also examine existing law, work to amend local and national laws, and lobby for new laws and statutes to promote and protect human rights. They will ensure that all local and national policies are formulated and implemented consistent with the human rights framework.

Besides, Human Rights City will strengthen, change, and develop newly defined relationships in the community to promote and protect equality of women, men, youth and children, and to build relationships based on equality between women and men, ethnic groups, religious groups, and others, and with their elected bodies, local and national.

An integral part of these programs and activities are the actions to create and oversee a fully comprehensive community development plan.