Universal Declaration of Human Rights Voice Ms. Chintana Kaewkao Community leader, Ban Krut district Prachuab Kirikan province “Access to information, problem analysis and raising public awareness [are] key collective lessons learned” Ms. Chintana Kaewkao, community leader from Prachuab Kirikan province, with limited school education, shares her experience in protecting community rights. In 1997, her local Tambon (sub-district) Administrative Organization informed her community that a power plant was to be built in their own Ban Krut district. This project was to be followed by another one in neighbouring Boh Nok district in the same province. She claims that when the villagers were initially informed of the power plant projects, they gave their consent. Both the government and the private company responsible for the projects explained the necessity and benefits of the projects, citing high demand by the population in general. Upon further reviewing the projects, however, she and other community members felt that the explanations given were not always consistent. They urged the promoters to reveal all information relating to the project, including impact assessments with a particular focus on the ecological system. They requested this information by claiming their community rights. She explains that “to exchange our natural resources and our lives for the financial benefit of others” was not acceptable. The community held gatherings and received a series of threats, she reports. However, their knowledge of the 1997 Constitution, protecting the right to gather in peace, gave them confidence to continue to the point of receiving the attention of the international community through the organization Greenpeace. The power plant project in Ban Krut district was finally abandoned in 2003, followed by the other project in Boh Nok district the following year. She recalls the need for “access to information, problem analysis and raising public awareness” as some of the key collective lessons learned. She requests that “development plans be shared…and must balance the human rights of the general public with the right to determine one’s own destiny.” She further requests that the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights serve as an opportunity to emphasize that human rights are universal as a birthright for all human beings and cannot be taken away. “We do not ask for much, but we would like those whose duty it is to protect the people to do so and thereby allow us to exercise our rights,” she concludes. 76 Dignity and Justice for All of Us