Pr

esent
ati
onont
heConc
eptofFund
ament
alHumanRi
ght
s
I
ntr
oduc
tion

 Ti
tle:Fund
ament
alHumanRi
ght
s:TheBed
roc
kofDi
gni
tyandJus
tic
e

 Defini
tion:Fundamentalhumanr i
ghtsrefertothebasi
crightsandfreedomsthatal
l
i
nd i
vid
ual sareent
itl
edt o,si
mplyb
ecausetheyarehumanbeings
.Thes
er ight
sformthe
foundationforjus
tice,equal
ity
,andpeaceinsoc
iet
ies
.

 I
mportance:Theserightsarees
senti
altohumand
igni
tyandareneces
saryfortheful
l
d
evel
opmentofi ndi
vidual
sandcommunit
ies
.Theyprot
ecti
ndi
vidual
sagai
nstabusesof
p
ower,dis
crimi
nation,andinj
usti
ce.

Hi
stor
icalBac
kgr
ound

 ConceptOrigi
n:Whi l
ether oot
sofhumanr ightsc anbet rac
edt oanc i
entc i
vil
izat
ions
such as the Babyloni
an Empire( Hammur
ab i
'
s Cod e),the i d
ea gained signifi
cant
momentumd uringtheAgeofEnlight
enmentinEur ope,wit
hp hil
osophersli
keJohnLoc ke
andJean-JacquesRousseauadvocat
ingfortheinherentri
ght sofindi
vidual
s.

 KeyMil
estone:Theatroci
tiesofWorldWarI Is
purredglobalrecogni
tionoft heneedto
prot
ectfundamentalhumanr i
ght
s,lead
ingtothead op
tionoft heUniversalDecl
arati
on
ofHumanRights(UDHR)in1948bytheUnitedNati
onsGener alAssembl
y .

Pr
eced
ent
s:

 [Link]
lof Ri
ghts( 1791)
:The firs
tten amendment
st othe [Link]
tit
uti
on,
guarant
eei
ngci
vill
ib
ertiesl
ikef
reed
omofsp
eech,pr
ess,andr
eli
gion.

 French Decl
aration ofthe Ri
ghtsofMan andofthe Ci
tizen (
1789)
:Establ
is
hed
i
nd i
vid
ualrights,suchasli
berty,p
rop
ert
y,andres
ist
ancetoop pr
essi
on,d
uringthe
FrenchRevolut
ion.

 KeyChar
act
eri
sti
csofFund
ament
alHumanRi
ght
s

 Uni
versal:Humanrightsappl
yt oallpeop
lewithoutexcep
[Link]
enotb
oundb
y
nat
ionali
ty,rac
e,gender,r
eli
gion,oranyotherstat
us.

 I
nali
enab l
e:Thes eright
sc annotbegiven away,taken,ort rans
fer
redund
erany
c
irc
umst ances
.Gov er
nment sorauthor
iti
esc anli
mitc ertai
nri
ghtsonlyi
nextr
eme
c
ases,suchast i
mesofwar ,andonl
yacc
ordingtoest
abli
s hedl
aws
.

 Indi
vis
ibl
eandI nt
erdependent:Allri
ghtsareequall
yi mp
ortantandi nt
erconnected.
Theprotecti
onofoner ightoft
enr el
iesontheprotec
tionofother
[Link] ns
tance,t he
ri
ghttoed ucat
ionimp
ac tstherighttoworkandt heri
ghtt oanadequatestandardof
 l
ivi
ng.

Non-Di
scri
minator
y:Theseright
smus tbeguarant
eedwithoutd
isc
rimi
nat
ionofany
ki
nd,ensur
ingthatal
lpeop
lehaveequalac
ces
sandprot
ect
ion.

Cat
egor
iesofHumanRi
ght
s

 [Link]
land Pol
it
icalRight
s:Conc
ernt
he p
rot
ect
ion ofi
ndi
vid
ualf
reed
omsand
par
tic
ipat
ioni
npubli
cli
fe.

 I
ncl
udet
her
ightt
oli
fe,l
iber
ty,f
reed
omofexp
res
sion,andt
her
ightt
ovot
e.

 Aimtoprotectindi
vid
ual
sfr
oms
tat
eop
pres
sionandens
urep
art
ici
pat
ioni
nci
vils
oci
ety
andgov
er nance.

[Link]
onomi
c,Soc
ial
,andCul
tur
alRi
ght
s:

 Relat
etother
ightt
oac
ces
sbas
icnec
ess
iti
esl
ikef
ood
,ed
ucat
ion,heal
thc
are,and
housi
ng.

 I
nclud
ether
ightt
owor
kund
erj
ustc
ond
iti
onsandt
her
ightt
opar
tic
ipat
einc
ult
ural
l
if
e.

 Aimtopromoteequal
ityandd
igni
tyb
yens
uri
ngt
hatal
lpeop
lehav
ether
esour
cest
hey
needtol
ivedecentl
ives
.

[Link]
idar
ityRi
ght
s:

 Foc
usonc
oll
ect
iver
ight
sthatemp
has
izet
hegl
obalc
ommuni
tyandmut
ualc
oop
erat
ion.

 I
ncl
udet
her
ightt
odev
elop
ment
,peac
e,andac
leanenv
ironment
.

 Acknowled
gethesharedr
esp
ons
ibi
li
tyofs
tat
est
oad
dres
sgl
obali
ssuess
uchasp
over
ty
andcli
matechange.

 Uni
ver
salDec
lar
ati
onofHumanRi
ght
s(UDHR)

 Adop
ted:Dec ember 10,1948,mar
king a p
ivot
almoment i
nthe c
odi
fic
ati
on of
i
nternat
ionalhumanright
s.

Over
v i
ew:TheUDHRcompri
ses30art
icl
es,whi
chout
li
neci
vil
,pol
it
ical
,ec
onomi
c,s
oci
al,
andcult
uralr
ight
sthats
houldbeuni
vers
all
yprot
ect
ed.

I
mpac
t

 TheUDHRhass er
vedasaf ound
ati
onf
ornumer
ousnat
ionalc
ons
tit
uti
onsandl
egal
framewor
ksar
oundthewor
ld.
 Ithasinsp
iredl
egallybi
ndinginternati
onaltreat
iessuchast heInternat
ionalCovenant
onCivi
landPoli
tic
alRights(ICCPR)andt heInternat
ionalCovenantonEc onomic
,Social
,
andCulturalRi
ght s(ICESCR),c ol
lec
tivel
yknownast heI nternati
onalBillofHuman
Right
s.

 TheUDHRc ont
inuest
ogui
degl
obalhumanr
ight
sad
voc
acyandr
emai
nsac
orner
stoneof
i
nternat
ionall
aw.

 Mod
ernFr
amewor
kforHumanRi
ght
s

I
nter
nat
ionalTr
eat
ies
:

 I
nter
nat
ionalCovenanton Ci
vilandPol
it
icalRights(ICCPR):Protectsr
ight
sli
ke
f
reed
omofexpres
sion,t
heri
ghttoafai
rtrial
,andfreed
omf romtor
t ure.

 I
nternati
onalCovenantonEconomic,Soci
al,andCul
tur
alRight
s( I
CESCR)
:Saf
eguar
ds
r
ight
sliketheri
ghtt owor
k,health,educ
ation,ands
oci
alp
rotecti
on.

Regi
onalSys
tems
:

 Europ
ean Conv
ention on Human Ri
ght
s(ECHR)
:Enf
orc
es human r
ight
sst
and
ard
s
thr
oughtheEurop
eanCour tofHumanRi
ght
s.

 Afri
canChart
eronHumanandPeop
les
'Right
s:Aimstop r
omotehumanr i
ghtsi
nAf
ric
an
st
ateswhil
econs
ider
ingt
heuni
quesoci
o-pol
iti
calc
ontextoft
hec ont
inent.

 Amer
icanConventi
ononHumanRights:Enfor
cedb
ytheInter
-Ameri
canCour
tofHuman
Ri
ghts,ad
dres
s i
ngviol
ati
onsofr
ight
si nLati
nAmeri
canc
ountri
es.

 Enf
orc
ementandChal
lenges

Mec
hani
smsofEnf
orc
ement
:

 Inter
nat
ionalcour
ts( e.g.
,Internat
ionalCri
minalCour
t,Eur
opeanCour
tofHuman
Right
s)p
rosecutevi
olati
onsofhumanr i
ghts
.

 Nati
onalgovernments havet he pri
maryr es
pons i
bil
it
yt op rotec
t human ri
ghts,
sup
portedbyins ti
tuti
onslikenati
onalhuman rightsc ommi
ssi
onsandi nt
ernat
ional
watchd
ogorganizati
ons(e.
g.,Amnes
tyI nt
ernat
ional,HumanRightsWatc
h).

Chal
lenges:

 Authori
tari
anRegi
mes
:Manygovernmentsacti
vel
ys up
p r
es shumanright
stomaint
ain
power,leadi
ngtowides
preadv
iol
ationssuc
hasc ensorship
,arbi
traryarr
est
s,and
tortur
e.

 Conf
lic
tZones
:Inar
easofwarandc
onf
li
ct,humanr
ight
svi
olat
ionsar
eof
tenr
amp
ant
,
 i
ncl
udi
ngat
tac
ksonc
ivi
li
ans
,mas
sdi
spl
acement
,andd
eni
alofb
asi
cneed
s.

 Soverei
gnt
yv s
.I nternati
onalNorms:Governmentssomet
imesresi
stinternati
onal
press
ure,cl
aimingthatprotec
tinghumanr
ight
si nt
erfer
eswi
thnat
ionals
overeignt
y.

 Cont
emp
orar
yIs
suesi
nHumanRi
ght
s

Mi
grat
ionandRef
ugeeRi
ght
s:

 Theglobalr
efugeecri
sishashighl
ight
edthevulnerab
ili
tyofdisp
lac
edp
opul
ati
onsand
theneedforstr
ongerprotec
tionofasyl
umseekersandmigrant
s.

 Humanr i
ght
sv i
olat
ionsinthetreatmentofref
ugeesoft
enincl
udedet
ainmenti
npoor
cond
iti
ons,l
ackofaccesstoheal
thcare,andd
eport
ati
onswit
houtdueproc
ess.

Cl
imat
eChange:

 The growing i
mp actofc l
imatechange posessi
gni
fic
anthuman right
schal
lenges
,
par
ticular
lyconcerni
ngtherightt
olif
e,healt
h,andacl
eanenv
ironment.

 I
ndigenousc ommuni
tiesandd evel
opi
ngcountr
iesared i
spr
oporti
onat
elyaffec
tedb
y
c
li
mat e-rel
ateddi
spl
ac ement
,foodins
ecur
ity
,andenv
ironmentald
egradat
ion.

Di
git
alRi
ght
s:

 In an incr
easingl
ydigi
talworl
d,iss
ues of p
riv
acy
,s ur
veill
ance,and f
reed
om of
exp
r es
siononl
ineareb
ecomingc
entr
altothehumanri
ght
sd i
scours
e.

 Gover
nment
sandc orporat
ionsal
ike havebeen ac
cusedofv i
olat
ing d
igi
talr
ight
s
thr
oughmasss
urv
eil
lanceprogr
ams,censor
shi
p,andmis
useofp
ersonaldat
a.

Gend
erEqual
ity:

 Whil
ep r
ogresshasbeenmad e,signif
icantgapsremaininens
uringgenderequali
ty,
part
icul
arl
yinareasl
ikeequalpay
,r eproduc
tiv
eri
ghts,andp
rotec
tionsagai
nstgender
-basedv
iol
ence.

 Thefightf orLGBTQ+r i
ghtsconti
nuesglob
all
y,withongoi
ngstrugglesf
ormar
riage
equal
ity,anti
-di
scri
minati
onpr
ot ec
tions
,andfreed
omfrompers
ecution.

Conc
lus
ion:

Summar y:Fundamentalhumanr ightsareacorners

t oneofmod ernciv
ili
zat i
on,of f
ering
aframeworkf orjus
t i
ce,peace,andequali
[Link] rovi
depr ot
ecti
onagai nstab usesof
powerandp romotethef ul
ldevelopmentofhumanp otential
.However,p r
ot ect
ingt hese
ri
ghtsr emai
nsa c ontinuousc hall
enge,requi
ringv igi
lance,glob
alc ooperation,and
acti
vis
m.
 CalltoAction:Asi nd
ivid
ualsandass oc
ieti
es,itiscrucialtoremainc ommitt
edt o
promoti
ng,protecti
ng,andad v
oc at
ingforhumanr i
ghtsatev eryl
evel—l
ocal,nat
ional,
andglobal
.Engaginginhumanr ightseducat
ion,sup
porti
ngp oli
cychanges
,andhol di
ng
vi
olator
saccountabl
ear eess
entialstep
stowar damorejustandequalworld.

Ref
erenc
es

 Uni
ver
salDec
lar
ati
onofHumanRi
ght
s(1948)
.

 I
nter
nat
ionalCov
enantonCi
vilandPol
it
icalRi
ght
s(1966)
.

 I
nter
nat
ionalCov
enantonEc
onomi
c,Soc
ial
,andCul
tur
alRi
ght
s(1966)
.*

 Eur
opeanConv
ent
iononHumanRi
ght
s.

 Af
ric
anChar
teronHumanandPeop
les
'Ri
ght
s.

 Amer
icanConv
ent
iononHumanr
ight
s.