Chapter 13 Preserving and Enhancing Human Rights and Dignity

The Biosphere and Its Inhabitants: The Essence of Politics

Comprehensive Wealth of Nations Green accounting Measures manufactured wealth (products) and estimates of natural capital (land and resources) and human capital (education, health, and other criteria) Country comparisons using GDP versus comprehensive wealth

The Nature of Human Rights Individual Human Rights Freedom from specific abuses or restrictions Collective Human Rights The right to have a quality of life that does not detract from human dignity Galtung's definition of basic human needs

The Origins of Human Rights Universal Declaration of Human Rights Non-Western position (cultural relativism) Disputes among countries of similar heritage Death penalty issues

Human Rights: Quality of Life Issues and Progress

Food Thomas Malthus Two basic food problems Short-term food supply Long-term adequacy of food supply Crop yields (green revolution)

Causes of food problems Population growth Maldistribution Nutritional content Political strife

International response Emergency food aid UN's World Food Programme (WFP) Agricultural development Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) World food conferences 1974 World Food Conference 1996 World Food Summit

Health Issues of inadequate medical care in LDCs and LLDCs High rates of infant mortality and disease among children World Health Organization (WHO) Successes of WHO Problems and new threats The speed of global spread of disease

Education Primarily a national responsibility UNESCO programs Gender gap in education Children receiving only a few years of primary school

Human Rights Issues Regarding Abuses of Individuals and Groups

Individual Rights Civil rights Civil liberties

Human Rights Abuses: Discrimination and Oppression Prejudice based on arbitrary characteristics Role in history

Social Darwinism Fascism, National Socialism, and Nazi (Weltanschauung) Oppression: Freedom House ranking of civil liberties

Women: Majority of world's population Economic-political-social minority Women's issues becoming more prominent Compared to men, there are disparities in jobs, professional status, literacy, poverty rates Abuses sanctioned by law or ignored (defacto slavery, prostitution, genital mutilation) Religious justifications in some Muslim societies (cultural relativism)

Children No political or economic power Suffer from a range of abuses (inadequate nutrition and schooling, sexual exploitation)

Ethnic and racial groups Oppression is pervasive Examples: South Africa, Rwanda, former Yugoslavia

Religious groups Racism, anti-Semitism, and other forms of hatred on the rise in Europe

Indigenous people Third World (term denoting relatively poor countries) Fourth World (term designating indigenous people collectively)

Refugees and immigrants Causes Prejudice Religious fundamentalism Rising tide Anti-immigration sentiment Economic ramifications

International Response to Individual and Group Human Rights Issues United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (1966) United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR)

Regional and IGO efforts The Commission on Human Rights European Court of Human Rights NGOs working independently, with UN, and with regional organizations

Mixed results of international efforts Factors impeding growth of human rights enforcement Political selectivity and national domestic political concerns UN-sponsored World Conference on Human Rights (WCHR) Women: Focus of increased attention as a global issue

UN activity: Decade for Women, Fourth World Conference on Women (WCW), UN Fund for Women The International Criminal Court charter: Pledges to stop crimes against humanity and includes a number of women's issues

Children: recently recognized issue UNICEF UN Convention on the Rights of the Child World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children Nationalism and parochialism impede international efforts

Ethnic, racial, and religious groups Rights are included in major human rights documents Specific agreements: International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1969)

Indigenous people Causes are gaining prominence UN and other NGO activity

Refugees and immigrants 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees: least widely ratified UN human rights treaties Lack of aid UN and other NGO activity