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	There is no fair future without human rights for all by The Elders, GI-ESCR, FIAN, agencies   As Nelson Mandela knew deeply, there is no fair future without human rights for all.   Graca Machel, founder of the Graca Machel Trust, co-founder and Deputy Chair of The Elders:   "This 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights must be a moment of global reckoning. The blatant disregard for the protection of human rights enshrined in the Declaration is painfully visible in every corner of the globe.   The world has achieved unprecedented levels of scientific and technological advances, yet millions are excluded from access to quality healthcare and education opportunities, and languish in extreme poverty in a world of plenty.   Far too many of us are tormented by fear of persecution and death over our religion, gender, political view or sexual orientation.   The fundamental rights and freedoms in the Declaration are universal and a birthright of every single human being - without exception. As Nelson Mandela said, “To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.”   As we commemorate 75 years of the Declaration, let us spare no effort to uphold the ethics of our world order and push until there is freedom, peace, justice, equality and dignity for all.   Hina Jilani, pioneering lawyer and human rights champion:   "As we mark the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we must not forget that universal rights and freedoms can never be embodied and protected by declarations alone. It is people who protect human rights. It is people who force change, who claim their rights and who realise their freedoms. Without those willing to struggle for justice, the Declaration amounts to nothing more than an empty dream.   Nelson Mandela embodied the essence of the Declaration, steadfastly battling to dismantle apartheid in South Africa. His triumph remains a source of endless inspiration for human rights defenders around the world who risk their lives fighting against injustice today".   Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:   "Over the past 75 years, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has acted as a vital framework for advancements in human rights across the world. It has served as the bedrock for landmark constitutions, legal frameworks and treaties, enabled people to obtain justice, and enforced accountability for violence and impunity.   Yet, for all these developments, we are far from a world where dignity and equality are universal. As millions of people continue to have their rights denied and abused by autocratic and populist regimes, the wisdom and moral clarity contained in the Declaration remains essential.   The Elders’ founder Nelson Mandela embodied this wisdom and leaders today should remember his example. We must not rest until all people can live in equality, dignity and freedom".   http://theelders.org/human-rights-are-universal   Dec. 2023   To Cooperate or Perish, the Dilemma of Humanity at War, by Magdalena Sepulveda - Director, Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights   Seventy-five years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the international community is again challenged to cooperate or perish. This statement by the Chilean diplomat Heran Santa Cruz, one of the intellectual fathers of the UDHR, has acquired heightened meaning as a result of the extreme suffering caused by the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.   The UDHR was humanity’s response to the "disregard and contempt for human rights (which) have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind". It affirmed "the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear". It embodied rights that the United Nations Charter adopted in 1945 to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, promote social progress, and improve living standards.   Founded just three years earlier, the United Nations was the only forum in which all countries could come together to discuss common problems and find shared solutions for the benefit of humanity. Its three pillars remain respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, maintenance of peace and security, and sustainable development.   Regrettably, these goals are still aspirations, and global solidarity seems to have receded. In addition to the horrors experienced by the victims of wartime atrocities, large segments of the world’s population live in fear of misery, and the world confronts several simultaneous crises: an unprecedented level of inequality, the triple planetary emergencies of climate change, pollution and loss of biodiversity, receding civic space, the COVID-19 pandemic (from which we have not yet recovered), and the risk of new epidemics. Together, these crises hold a sword of Damocles over humanity.   Once again, women and girls suffer disproportionately and unequally. The sexual assaults on women during Hamas’ brutal attacks on Israeli civilians on 7 October are a shocking example of this. Women and children also account for two-thirds of those killed in Gaza by Israel’s devastating military response. In this bombardment, two mothers are killed every hour and seven women every two hours, while the rest survive in panic and anxiety.   Survivors have been forced to flee their homes and seek protection in overcrowded shelters without food, water, medical supplies, or privacy, increasing the risk of death and further sexual violence.   In common with other conflicts, the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have multiplied the number of widows, women who overnight become household providers, obliged to ensure the survival of their family members alone and in fear.   Seventy-five years after the UDHR was proclaimed, the pursuit of gender equality remains elusive. The UN has warned that, if current trends continue, more than 340 million women and girls - 8 per cent of all women worldwide - will live in extreme poverty by 2030. Nearly one in four will endure moderate or severe food insecurity.   Without global agreements, the effects of wars and crises make a decent life unreachable for most people. It is imperative to restore the moral and legal foundations of the international system, which rests on respect for human rights, the principles of multilateralism, the values of democracy, and a rules-based global order.   We cannot passively accept the dilution of the principles of the UN Charter and disregard for the rights enshrined 75 years ago in the UDHR, because all nations share these values and norms.   In our context, adherence to the legal principles of human rights, which underpin humanist values, becomes an obligation rather than a choice.   All societies should respect the inherent dignity of every human being, while inter-State relations should respect the principles of equal rights, self-determination and international cooperation: these values must guide legal and economic conduct, because they create the conditions in which it becomes possible to achieve stability and sound international governance, discourage conflict, and reach equitable solutions to crises, including the climate emergency.   In this context, a recent initiative of the United Nations, supported mainly by countries of the global South, offers a shaft of hope. On 22 November, states passed a historic resolution on international taxation. It introduced a process that could bring the discussion on global taxation from the OECD, a club of rich countries, to the United Nations.   This resolution, promoted by African states and other emerging countries, aims to create a convention on international tax cooperation. This would open a path to building a fairer and more inclusive international tax system, one that does not benefit rich countries alone or increase the wealth of the few but provides sufficient resources to developing economies, which are the big losers in the current system.   The US and some of its allies voted against it at the UN last month. But since even advanced economies require resources to address inequality, they will probably become involved at some point during the process. If the negotiations for such a convention go in the right direction, it could lead to higher tax revenue and, thus, more resources to invest in public services and development.   The key is to ensure that corporations pay a fair proportion of their income in tax and the revenues are distributed fairly among states.   At first sight, this may seem a small matter in the face of today's threats. But the truth is that it responds to a historic demand of the global South and can give multilateralism a fresh start. It proves that the United Nations is still a forum where we can cooperate not to perish, as my compatriot Santa Cruz pointed out.   Eleanor Roosevelt, Chair of the UDHR Drafting Committee, once said: "It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it.”   Today, this means defending and strengthening the institutions of global governance and taking practical steps to confront the catastrophes of our time, promote social progress, improve living conditions, and protect human rights for all.   http://gi-escr.org/en/our-work/on-the-ground/gi-escr-advocates-universal-declaration-of-human-rights-principles-in-media-spotlight   * 75 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: what outlook for future generations? (FIAN International)   “Looking to the future of human rights at this historic time, it is important to reaffirm our commitment to what was agreed 75 years ago, in the wake of the enormous human suffering of World War Two. If historical and current injustices are not corrected, this will ultimately undermine respect for human rights of future generations,” said Ana María Suárez, FIAN Permanent Representative at the UN.   “We must resolve the big, interrelated challenges facing our planet now – hunger, armed conflict, and eco-destruction. The most vulnerable communities, who bear the brunt of global injustice and impunity are leading a way forward that cares for human rights and the planet. But above all the states that represent us are ultimately responsible for the plight of future generations of all living beings."   This briefing paper examines current threats to humanity through the lens of the Maastricht Principles on the Human Rights of Future Generations, which clarify how international law applies to the rights of future generations, as well as offering a way forward:   http://www.fian.org/en/press-release/article/75-years-after-universal-declaration-of-human-rights-time-to-recognize-rights-of-future-generations-3251   Dec. 2023   Still relevant: the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, by Adeeba Kamarulzaman, Allan Maleche, Chris Beyrer for The Lancet Medical Journal   December 10, 2023, marks the 75th anniversary of the founding commitment of the modern human rights movement, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).   75 years on, the world is tested and tormented by an agonising array of conflicts in which human rights violations are not secondary outcomes, but rather central to such conflicts. Ethnic cleansing, collective punishment, apartheid, sexual violence as a tool of state terror, and the deliberate targeting of health-care facilities and workers are part of multiple ongoing conflicts in 2023.   The unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, civil conflicts underway in Tigray in Ethiopia, Sudan, Myanmar, and Syria, the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and the Saudi-led coalition's bombardment of Yemen, all have in common violations of the rules of conduct in war—specifically, attacks on civilians, health-care workers, health-care facilities, and infrastructure and other violations of medical neutrality.   These attacks are also violations of the right to health; through the denial of health-care access, they undermine the principle of dignity and the equal value of all human lives.   Armed conflict is an extreme domain of human rights abuses, but is only one of many settings in which human rights violations are taking place. Other concerns that undermine the right to health include the deliberate degradation of our environments and the climate for short-term profit and the widespread use of disinformation and misinformation that adversely affects people's rights to benefit from scientific progress. Disinformation related to the safety and efficacy of vaccines has led to multiple disease outbreaks and to losses of life during the COVID-19 pandemic.   Political and legal attacks on the rights of sexual and gender minorities, and on the rights of women, undermine the universality of human rights and are occurring in countries as diverse as Iran, Russia, Uganda, and the USA.   Indeed, in his opening address to the 53rd Council of the UN Human Rights Council in June, 2023, Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, reaffirmed the centrality of the UDHR for our deeply troubled times precisely because of its core principle of universality.   The global community backs away from the universality of human rights at its collective peril. In 1948, the UDHR was crafted in the wake of the Nazi persecutions of Jewish people, Roma, LGBT persons, individuals with disabilities, and others deemed unfit to live by the Nazi regime.   The relevance of the UDHR was also clear in the decades that followed World War 2, notably in the struggle against the avowedly racist apartheid regime in South Africa, which was also a struggle to realise universal rights. Equality for all must be upheld as a guiding principle for all our societies. The responsibility to protect rights cannot be left to our current political systems and human rights bodies, including the UN, because they are manifestly failing to do so in many places.   How relevant, then, is the human rights framework to health in these troubled times? How can the global health community press for universal health coverage, committed to by heads of states at the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly in September, 2023, when we see so many millions of people denied the most basic health services, including the substantial numbers of internally displaced people and refugees?   And what are the possible roles and potential actions health-care workers can undertake to address these threats?   First, the tools of population-based sciences need to be used more intensively and routinely to document and measure human rights abuses; this information can be used to hold governments and other actors to account. These tools, exemplified by the use of novel satellite technologies and video surveillance in the documentation of Russian atrocities in Bakhmut and other cities in Ukraine, hold great promise for accountability for war crimes.   Second, health-care workers must put human rights at the forefront of our work and become much more engaged in efforts to protect the rights of those we seek to serve. This is a pressing reality for many obstetric care providers in US states, for example, where multiple restrictions on reproductive and sexual health and rights have adversely affected the practice of medicine, endangered patients’ lives, and put health-care providers in legal jeopardy for providing essential care.   Third, medicine and health care must be a more active participant in advocacy for health-care access as a human right in all societies. No one should be denied health-care access by virtue of legal or immigration status—yet multiple health systems do just this, and providers must not be complicit in these denials of access to care.   Fourth, common cause is needed with those advocating for inter-related rights, including the movement for addressing the climate crisis and for climate justice, anti-racist struggles, the LGBTQ+ rights movement, and the global movement for women's rights to bodily autonomy, choice, and freedom from sexual and gender-based violence, among others. Health-care workers have agency in these struggles and need to influence these social and political debates. Health-care workers cannot stay in our professional domains and expect others to address these crises.   Human rights protections are not optional, and they are not reserved for the fortunate few who are citizens of countries that now enjoy peace and prosperity. If we consider the climate crisis alone, our collective rights to enjoy a liveable and healthy environment are under existential threat.   Young people worldwide know that their survival is at stake, and many have been organising and winning court cases based on their right to a liveable future.   For those living under repressive regimes and trying to survive in the world's expanding zones of conflict and displacement, human rights have proven stubbornly cherished hopes for a better future. Health professionals must do everything we can to ensure that future and uphold human rights in protection of humanity's common survival.   * Adeeba Kamarulzaman and Chris Beyrer are the Co-Chairs and Allan Maleche is a Commissioner of the International AIDS Society-Lancet Commission on health and human rights: http://www.thelancet.com/commissions/health-and-human-rights   * Marking The Lancet Medical Journal's 200th anniversary, this special issue features critical issues impacting health globally: http://www.thelancet.com/lancet-200
	The human rights system is under threat: A call to Action by Tirana Hassan Executive Director, Human Rights Watch   We only have to look at the human rights challenges of 2023 to tell us what we need to do differently in 2024. It was a formidable year not only for human rights suppression and wartime atrocities but also for selective government outrage and transactional diplomacy that carried profound costs for the rights of those not in on the deal. Yet amid the gloom, we saw signs of hope showing the possibility of a different path.   Renewed hostilities between Israel and Hamas and in Sudan caused tremendous suffering, as did ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, Myanmar, Ethiopia, and the Sahel.   Governments struggled to deal with the hottest year on record and the onslaught of wildfires, drought, and storms that wreaked havoc on millions of people in Bangladesh, Libya, and Canada.   Economic inequality rose around the world, as did anger about the policy decisions that have left many people struggling to survive.   The rights of women and girls and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people faced harsh backlashes in many places, exemplified by the Taliban’s gender persecution in Afghanistan.   The drivers of these human rights crises and their consequences often transcend borders and cannot be solved by governments acting alone. Understanding and responding to these threats needs to be rooted in universal principles of international human rights and the rule of law.   These ideas built on shared human histories agreed upon by nations across all regions 75 years ago in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the basis for all contemporary human rights conventions and treaties.   This foundation is needed now more than ever. But this very system we rely on to protect the human rights of people everywhere is under threat. Every time a government overlooks or rejects these universal and globally accepted principles, someone pays a price – in freedoms and liberties, in their health or livelihood, and at times their lives.   Governments that could play a role in helping to improve human rights frequently adopt double standards in applying the human rights framework, which chips away at trust in the institutions responsible for enforcing and protecting rights.   Governments that are vocal in condemning Israeli government war crimes against civilians in Gaza but silent about Chinese government crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, or demand international prosecution for Russian war crimes in Ukraine while undermining accountability for past US abuses in Afghanistan, weaken the belief in the universality of human rights and the legitimacy of the laws designed to protect them.   In transactional diplomacy, governments disregard the benefits of long-term relationships built on human rights principles to achieve immediate, short-term trade or security gains. When governments pick and choose which obligations to enforce, they perpetuate injustice not only in the present but in the future for those whose rights have been sacrificed – and can embolden abusive governments to extend the reach of their repression. The moral foundation of international human rights demands consistency and steadfastness.   Governments have found it easier to disregard human rights issues in the international arena in part because the international community is not challenging their violations of human rights at home. Across regions, autocrats have worked to erode the independence of key institutions vital for protecting human rights and shrink the space for expressions of dissent with the same end game in mind: to exercise power without constraint.   But just as these threats are interconnected, so too is the power of the human rights framework to deliver on the promise of protecting people’s freedom and dignity, no matter who they are or where they live. The protection of human rights has advanced on multiple fronts.   After three years of diplomatic negotiations and a decade of campaigning by civil society groups, 83 countries adopted a political declaration to better protect civilians from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas during armed conflict. The international pledge is the first to formally address the long-standing practice of warring parties to use aerial bombing, artillery, rockets, and missiles in villages, towns, and cities – the leading cause of civilian casualties in armed conflict around the world.   It goes further than simply urging better compliance with the laws of war by committing its signatories to adopt policies and practices that prevent and address harm. Six of the world’s top eight arms exporters – the United States, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and South Korea – have adopted the declaration, as well as 25 of 31 NATO member states.   A number of countries addressed the rights of long-marginalized communities. After years of civil society pressure, the Japanese parliament passed its first law to protect LGBT people from “unfair discrimination.” Nepal's Supreme Court instructed authorities to recognize same-sex marriages while it considers a case demanding full marriage equality rights.   In Mexico, a civil society coalition persuaded Congress to pass a law establishing full legal capacity and the right to supported decision-making for everyone over 18, benefiting millions of people living with disabilities and older people, while the Mexican Supreme Court ruled that Congress must eliminate federal criminal penalties for abortion, meaning that all federal health facilities should provide abortion care.   The human rights and humanitarian crises have caused some to question the effectiveness of the human rights framework as a model for protection and for positive change – especially in the face of selective government outrage, transactional diplomacy seeking short-term gain, growing transnational repression, and the willingness of autocratic leaders to sacrifice rights to consolidate their power.   But this is no basis for giving up on the human rights framework, which remains the roadmap to building thriving, inclusive societies. Governments should respect, protect, and defend human rights with the urgency, vigor, and persistence needed to confront and address the global and existential challenges that threaten our common humanity.   http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2024 Visit the related web page
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