On December 6th, Serena Montefusco, Head of Project and Communication Management at the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and Human Rights, participated as a keynote speaker during the inaugural session of the Platinum Jubilee International Conference on “Reimagining Human Rights: Changing Dimensions in a Digital World.” The international conference was organized by St. Thomas College Palai (Autonomous), Kerala, India.
Bridging the Digital Divide: Exploring the Intersection of Digital Literacy and Human Rights in the Age of Technological Advancement
Abstract
The rapid advancement of digital technologies has transformed societies globally, presenting both opportunities and challenges. Access to digital technologies and the ability to use them are now prerequisites for full participation in society. This paper explores the complex relationship between digital literacy and human rights, examining how these two concepts intersect and influence each other. One key challenge to be highlighted is the digital divide, which increases existing social inequalities and limits access to information and opportunities for vulnerable groups. This paper explores the specific cases of educational and digital poverty, underlining the unique challenges faced by disadvantaged populations in the digital era. It also examines the ethical implications of emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence and the biases involved. To address these challenges and promote inclusive digital literacy, the paper proposes a series of recommendations, including policy interventions, educational initiatives, and civil society engagement. Enhancing digital literacy and tackling the digital divide could minimise disparities and discrimination, thereby empowering individuals and advancing human rights for all.
From 7-10 November the 18th Asia Federation of Catholic Medical Associations Congress took place in Seul, Korea, at the Catholic University of Korea.
Prof. Fr. Joseph Tham, LC, UNESCO Chair Research Scholar and Full professor of the Faculty of Bioethics (Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum), was one of the speakers during the Session “The threat of birth.”
Abstract
The Catholic Church’s teachings on the beginning of life and reproductive issues, as articulated in various pronouncements, encyclicals, and the Catechism, are grounded in natural law theories and a metaphysical worldview. These teachings emphasize the commencement of human personhood and the purposes of human sexuality and procreation. However, since the 1960s, the erosion of faith in the West has made these teachings increasingly challenging for Catholics to accept and practice, underscoring the urgency of addressing this issue.
While Catholicism shares traditional values on life and family, the reasoning in the East, where Christianity is a minority, often differs. Confucian, Buddhist, and Hindu values shape Asian conceptions of life and family, frequently contrasting with the natural law and metaphysical truths proposed by the Church, leading to tensions.
In recent years, secularism has gained ground globally, including in Asia. Modern and postmodern values present significant contrasts to the Catholic view of family and life. These challenges include the marginalization of religious voices, the exaltation of science and technology as the sole sources of human progress, a consumerist and utilitarian approach to health and medicine, and a hedonistic worldview fueled by the media since the sexual revolution. These ideas, originating with Darwinism, have evolved into contemporary expressions of transhumanism and pan-sexualism, posing grave challenges.
Natural law reasoning in the West has sometimes been translated into a more accessible language, emphasizing human dignity and human rights. However, the concept of a common human nature and objective truth is weakening. As philosopher Charles Taylor notes, the notion of the essential self is giving way to an existential self, which is unmoored and fluid.
While not rejecting the path of reason, it is arduous because the truths in Eastern traditions are incommensurable with those in the metaphysics-based West. Beyond the challenge of explaining the Church’s natural reasoning (already tricky in the West), inculturation is needed in Asia.
Other approaches to finding a convergence of family and life values are being explored. In Asia, the way of service shows promise, exemplified by Caritas serving the community and St. (Mother) Teresa of Calcutta’s work. Another untried method is via pulchritudinis, the Way of Beauty. Historically, the Church has been a patron of the arts, using sacred art, music, and architecture for evangelization. There is still significant potential in Asia for inculturating the religious message through art and beauty.
Applying the concept of Beauty to life issues would highlight the Asian appreciation that Life is phenomenal, Family is beautiful, and Love is all-embracing. A real-life example of this application is the “Art for God” project by the present author, which combines Oriental culture and Christian spirituality through Chinese paintings, calligraphy, and seal-carving.
On Monday 11 Nov., Giulia Bovassi, Assistant Researcher of the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and Human Rights, spoke during the informal hearing at the 2nd and 10th Joint Committees of the Senate of the Republic on medically assisted death where Bill Nos. 65, 104, 124, 570, and 1083 were discussed.
The points on which the hearing focused are the right to life, its inviolability, inalienability and unavailability as an ineliminable prerequisite both of the exercise of any other right deriving from it and of any attempt to legislate on assisted suicide or euthanasia. This is in line with Judgment 242/2019, which reaffirms it. The criterion of quality of life is challenged as a principle of discrimination, contrary to equality, between worthy and unworthy lives.
Secondly, the principle of self-determination was discussed, with particular reference to the authenticity of consent in situations severely marked by physical or psychic suffering.
The concern expressed in the 135/2024 judgment about the risk of abuse as a result of legalised forms of assisted suicide and the build-up of ‘indirect social pressure’ on the population, which is consequently made to feel like a burden and a social cost, is argued. Cases and statistics on the international situation confirming this concern are brought in. The risk inherent in the DDLs discussed of falling down the slippery slope that has affected international legislation on the subject is pointed out.
The rationale of palliative care, in which to invest in order to respond to thousands of people who want to exercise their right to care, was highlighted; a rationale opposed to a ‘right to die’.
It has been emphasised in this sense what good medicine, good clinical practice, based on proportionality and therapeutic alliance, on the deontological and bioethical principles of beneficence, not maleficence, are irreparably compromised by such practices.
There is a desire to focus on investments in palliative care, hospices, pain therapy because an incurable patient remains a curable person.
IES was created to address the challenges of educational and digital poverty: two interconnected phenomena that profoundly affect the well-being and development of individuals and communities.
Through the implementation of experimental teaching methods, such as the use of an innovative educational toolkit and the development of practical and engaging workshops, IES aims at actively involving participants, making them protagonists of change.
This approach will allow students and teachers to explore new ways of learning, promoting inclusive and digital education, adapted to the challenges of the 21st century.
The project targets marginal areas in Rome and Lazio with the aim of reducing the digital divide and improving access to education.
Goals
Reduce educational poverty: Promote access to quality education for all, particularly for vulnerable communities.
Fight the digital divide: Provide concrete tools to ensure digital inclusion and access to technologies.
Empowerment of educators and students: Provide innovative resources to enable teachers to adopt new and challenging teaching methods that meet the needs of a changing world.
Time Frame: September 2024- September 2025
First Phase – Launch event and organization of the workshops.
Second Phase– Development of the FAD Toolkit (Distance Learning)
Third Phase – Implementation of 4 pilot workshops
Fourth Phase – Promotion of the toolkit and conclusion
The European University of Rome, founded in 2004, is an Italian non-state university, which is part of the public university system and, at the same time, part of the great tradition of the educational institutions of the Catholic Church. It is part of an international network of universities with campuses in Italy, Spain, the United States, Mexico and Chile. The UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and Human Rights established at the European University of Rome and the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum promotes the application of bioethical principles in new technologies and solidarity among citizens of the world, in the light of the UNESCO Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights.
EucA – The European Association of University Colleges is based in Brussels and has as its student affairs themes the internationalisation of work, the development of transversal competences, international mobility and active citizenship with particular reference to the European Institutions. It is a reference point in Europe for the development of Student Affairs Services by fostering training and best practices among those in Europe who are involved in the education and training of students. Previous experience related to the topic in projects: GenZ votes, EYE quiz Tournament, European go digital, Message to europeans 3.0 Ref. www.euchangemakers.com
Social Warning Movimento Etico Digitale is a social promotion association composed of a group of digital professionals whose mission is to disseminate information among young people and adults, students and teachers, children and parents, to make them aware of the value and necessity of a digital civic education, addressing both the potential and the risks of new technologies. From 2018 to date, the association has met about 90,000 secondary school students and 30,000 adults thanks to training activities carried out in school, association and work contexts throughout Italy.
Sponsors
Funded by CIMEA in cooperation with the Conference of Italian University Rectors (CRUI). The views expressed belong, however, to the author(s) alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of CIMEA or CRUI. Neither CIMEA nor CRUI can be held responsible for them.
