Human Rights
Globalization has reduced the boundaries between nations, and in doing so it has raised the global awareness of many humans. People are increasingly conscious of issues and events occurring beyond the borders of their own country. The twentieth century has witnessed the birth and progression of international human rights legislation, beginning with the United Nations' "Universal Declaration on Human Rights" in 1948. The existence of universal human rights has been a course theme this year, raised and debated between students in the classroom. The United Nations has ratified the following items of international human rights legislation:
1948: The United Nations issues the "Universal Declaration on Human Rights"
1951: Convention on the Prevention and Punishment for the Crime of Genocide
1969: Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
1981: Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
1984: Convention against Torture
1989: Convention on the Rights of the Child
2002: Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
The Geneva Conventions, treaties concerning human rights in international law, have also served to further the cause of human rights. Many human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have been founded to identify current humanitarian crises, and act as watchdog groups to ensure that the public learns of state transgressions of human rights conventions to which that state is signatory. Some of these recognizable NGOs are Amnesty International (1961) and Human Rights Watch (1978), as well as the World Organisation Against Torture, a coalition of almost 300 individual human rights groups. Human Rights will continue to be an issue in the future as globalization further integrates the world and continues to raise the individual's consciousness of global events.
The list of current major human rights issues is far too lengthy to be recreated here, and some issues are unique to a specific region. For much more information on the nature of international human rights NGOs and the issues they represent, please consult the following links:
Global Issues That Affect Everyone
Amnesty International - Working to Protect Human Rights Worldwide
Human Rights Watch - Defending Human Rights Worldwide
OMCT - World Organisation Against Torture