What are Human Rights?

Sharing core norms and values
May 16, 2023 | Chatham House

Human rights are fundamental freedoms that every person enjoys, and that governments are obliged to respect, protect and fulfil under international law. 2023 marks the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Beyond its significant moral and political force, many of its provisions have come to be regarded as part of customary international law. But the world is at a critical moment in this regard as geopolitical competition intensifies, with China pushing back on human rights norms, promoting an approach that is heavily state-centric and resistant to oversight or accountability. In their article for the Chatham House, John Wallace and Ruma Mandal explain what human rights protect, where they are codified. and how they relate to new challenges. They pose the question: How can this project, born in another period of enormous social and global upheaval, act as an animating, principled map for navigating the many global and social challenges ahead?
https://www.chathamhouse.org/2023/05/what-are-human-rights

print button Print
Related Articles:

Popular Articles

Poverty as a Wicked Problem

The belief that poverty can be prevented by identifying and dealing with its causes, and the...  Read More

Is Mars Ours?

Jun 13, 2021 | The New Yorker, Adam Mann

NASA and China having landed mobile rovers on the surface of Mars has raised the question of...  Read More

Think Local and Act Global - A Conversation with GGF 2030 fellow Cara Stauß

Nov 15, 2018 | Global Policy,

World affairs, diplomacy and trade are no longer solely the domain of nation-states, as cities...  Read More

Global Extreme Poverty

According to household surveys, 44 percent of the global population lived in absolute...  Read More

Popular Videos

A Message from Alan Doss, President of the Kofi Annan Foundation

Highlights from the G20 Think Tank Summit GLOBAL SOLUTIONS in Berlin

Happy Birthday Kofi Annan!

T20 Summit GLOBAL SOLUTIONS – Sean Cleary

Global Trends, Risks and Rewards — Where Are We Now, Where Are We Going?