List of Human Rights Issues

The fundamental rights of humanity are: first, the right of habitation; second, the right to move freely; third, the right to the soil and subsoil, and to the use of it; fourth, the right of freedom of labor and of exchange; fifth, the right to justice; sixth, the right to live within a natural national organization; and seventh, the right to education. ~ Albert Schweitzer

Imagine a life without any freedom or even without any respect in society... sounds tough, right? Often at times, we come across this term ‘human rights’ and overlook it thinking we’ve heard it all. We do not realize the importance of human rights until we imagine the plight of people who are deprived of these fundamental rights. Human rights refer to the "basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled." Examples of rights and freedoms, which are included as civil and political rights under human rights, are the right to life and liberty, freedom of expression, and equality before the law; and social, cultural and economic rights, including the right to participate in culture, the right to food, the right to work, and the right to education. Well, here is some information about the human rights issues that everyone should be aware of.

The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948, which mentions all the fundamental human rights that every human being is entitled to. The United Nations has several committees and specialized programs that ensure that all the human rights issues are being identified, resolved and supervised. The Human Rights Council also appoints certain individuals as special rapporteurs who function independently. A special rapporteur is nothing but an expert who examines and reports back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme.

List of Human Rights Issues

Adequate Housing

While you sit into your cozy home and curl up in your comfy bed, think about the millions of people around the globe, who are homeless under the skies. Adequate housing is one of the basic human needs and according to the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements, there are more than one billion homeless people across the world. As rightly defined by the first special rapporteur in the adequate housing section, "The human right to adequate housing is the right of every woman, man, youth and child to gain and sustain a safe and secure home and community in which to live in peace and dignity." The United Nations also has a set of legal obligations for governments of all nations, which ensures that proper steps are being taken in order to tackle the issues of adequate housing in all the countries. In addition to adequate housing, access to drinking water and adequate sanitation facilities are also considered vital. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims that, "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control."

Business and Human Rights

Industrialization does not imply disregard for human rights and degradation of environmental safety. How many times have you come across issues like trees being cut down to set up large manufacturing plants or untreated polluted chemicals being drained into natural water bodies? It is time that we realize that no business or no monetary transaction in this world is greater than human life or environmental health. One of the effects of globalization is the escalating trans-national trade or business transactions. Business transactions can involve issues like acquiring land, formulating ethical policies for employees and workers and many other issues which need to fit into an internationally recognized legal and moral structure. Some of the key factors that need to be tackled in business and human rights are abolition of forced labor, child labor and employee discrimination.

The Human Rights Council also believes that the businesses should uphold the freedom of association and effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining. In addition, the businesses should also be ready to support environmental challenges by promoting environmental responsibility and adopting environment friendly technologies. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights also provides assistance to develop norms on the responsibilities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises with regard to human rights. Today, a large number of corporate organizations are focused on the impact they have on individuals, communities and the environment. Respect to human rights is one of the indispensable parts of corporate social responsibility. In addition to this, a large number of corporate organizations are also realizing that, abiding by the human rights policies, also leads to an overall improved business performance.

Human Rights for Children

There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they can grow up in peace. ~ Kofi Annan

Improvement of overall conditions of unprivileged children across the world remains to be one of the major human rights issues. Undoubtedly, children are a very important demographic of the world population and hence, their problems and needs should be taken care of. If we hope for a better world in the future, we need to focus on the development and progress of children and need to acknowledge their needs. Many children across the world are facing ghastly tribulations, some of which are too much to handle even for adult human beings. There are approximately 300,000 children from several countries, who are under the age of eighteen, and are participating in armed conflicts and wars. Despite several laws being enforced, child labor is still rampant in many countries. There is a lot of work to be done to check the police violence against children, or the abolition of death penalty for minors. Work also needs to be done to improve the plight of children in orphanages or correctional institutions. Discrimination in education based on race, gender or even medical conditions. There are also issues of child abuse, prostitution, trafficking for child labor and mistreatment of refugee or migrant children. Also, female infanticide is still rampant in some Asian countries.

Civil and Political Rights

Freedom to enjoy basic civil and political rights is also a part of human rights issues. Human rights include civil and political rights like the right to life and liberty, freedom of expression, and equality before the law; and other social, cultural and economic rights which include the right to participate in culture, the right to food, right to work, and the right to education as well. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights lists certain civil and political rights in its covenant. The nations are conferred the rights to self determination and the right to own, trade and dispose of their property freely and not be deprived of their means of subsistence. The individual rights include, the right to life, the right to liberty and freedom of movement, the right to equality before the law, the right to presumption of innocence until proven guilty, the right to appeal a conviction, the right to be recognized as a person before law, the right to privacy and protection of privacy by law, the freedom of thought, conscience, religion, opinion, expression, the freedom of assembly and association and of course, the right to legal recourse when their rights have been violated.

Climate Change

The tragic incidents of hurricanes, tsunami, earthquakes and many other natural disasters have seen victims succumb to death, many left homeless, some robbed of their livelihood and millions bereaved. The impact of such extreme climatic changes on human life is, thus one of the important human rights issues. Climate change is a serious environmental issue, but in addition to that, the effects of climate change on basic human rights is also an equally important issue. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has cited the safety of marginalized groups from climate changes as one of the human rights issues. The extreme climatic changes could result in a large number of people suffering from problems like malnutrition, water shortage, drought, floods, heat stress, epidemics, loss of livelihood and permanent displacement.

Human Rights and Disability

More than six hundred million people, who constitute around ten percent of the world’s population, have a disability of one form or another. While the living conditions vary with respect to the disabilities, a majority of people who are coping with disabilities face various forms of discrimination or even social exclusion. Safeguarding the interests of the people with disabilities is one of the major human rights issues.

Environment

Increasing industrialization has led to several manufacturing processes and waste management practices that have hazardous effects on human life. The importance of ecological issues and their impact on the normal human life remain to be an area that needs attention as well. The impact of the illicit movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes on human life throughout the world, is also an important human rights issue.

Executions

The extra-judicial killings, which involve police murdering suspects, is very controversial amongst the human rights issues. The so called War on Terror initiated by the US, was also a violation of human rights. Similarly, the inhuman practices in jails and armed methods used for control in riots are some other human rights issues involved under this category.

Food

While some countries are busy pointing fingers at others for excessive consumption of food, it is a fact that there are sections of the world, which are faced with extreme cases of starvation and malnutrition. Adequate food to meet the nutritional requirements of the body is one of the basic human rights.

Genocide

Human life is valuable and destruction of human life is perhaps the greatest violation of human rights. Genocide which means deliberate destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious or national group, is a major human rights issue.

Globalization

The negative effects of globalization as regards to the environmental issues and other social issues are one of the major concerns. Tackling the negative effects of globalization and limiting its impact on human rights is also one of the major human rights issues.

Health

He who has health has hope; and he who has hope has everything.

Health is perhaps one of the most basic human rights. The right to health is an all-encompassing right, which not only includes timely and appropriate health care, but also fundamental elements of health like adequate sanitations, access to safe and potable water, healthy occupational and environmental conditions and access to health-related education and information. Every human being has the right to control his/her health, including the right to be free from non-consensual medical treatment.

HIV/AIDS

Discrimination and social exclusion of HIV affected people is a violation of human rights. The need to create an open and supportive environment for those infected with HIV and de-stigmatization of AIDS is a very important human rights issue. The protection and promotion of human rights is, thus essential in preventing the spread of HIV and in increasing awareness about the social and economic impact of the pandemic.

Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is nothing, but the illegal recruitment, transport or sale of human beings into forced labor and servitude and is one of the most tragic violations of human rights. Especially, trafficking of women and children for prostitution or labor is more rampant and needs appropriate measures for abolition of such practices.

Poverty

Wherever we lift one soul from a life of poverty, we are defending human rights and whenever we fail in this mission, we are failing human rights.~ Kofi Annan

The dearth of income or economic deprivation is considered as a violation of human rights since economic deprivation has its own social, political and cultural implications, which affect a human being’s psychological and physical health. Since poverty renders most of the essential human rights nullified, it is perhaps one of the most complex human rights issues. Right to health, housing, food and safe water, and the right to education or the civil and political rights stand nullified, once poverty comes into picture. While tackling the issue of eradication of poverty, the Human Rights Council aims at providing an adequate standard of living and other fundamental economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights.

Racism

Racism is man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.~ Abraham J. Heschel

In an age, where we are talking about being global citizens of one world and tackling the universal threats, it is most shameful for people to create rifts within themselves and divide the society under the name of race. Discrimination owing to racism or religion for that matter is violation of human rights. Racism is one vital human rights issue, which is addressed by the Human Rights Council by passing stringent laws against racism and supervising the successful implementation of the same. The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action under the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights recommends that, "The Commission on Human Rights prepare complementary international standards to strengthen and update international instruments against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in all their aspects.

Terrorism

While we must remain determined to defeat terrorism, it isn't only terrorism we are fighting. It's the beliefs that motivate terrorists. A new ideology of hatred and intolerance has arisen to challenge America and liberal democracy. ~ John Kerry

Terrorism violated human rights, weakens the democracy and affronts the law. Protection of human rights aims to put in an effective counter-terror-ism effort, which will safeguard human rights, protect democracy and uphold the Rule of Law in the society. Terrorism is, thus, one of the major human rights issues.

Women

Women constitute an important demographic of the world population and although equality of men and women being increasingly accepted in several societies, there exists several places in the world where the women are still being treated without respect. The plight of women across the world is one of the major human rights issues, which needs to be propagated so that women across the world can enjoy their freedom and liberty, which every human being is entitled to.

Despite of all the social, economical and political evils, the population of the world is striving for a better future. We need to be united in our efforts to safeguard the human rights. Human rights are not just for the international organizations to propagate and for us to read in the newspapers. Be an active part of the global community that you live in and do your bit towards the society.