human rights

What are human rights?

Human rights refer to the basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled, often held to include the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, and equality before the law. 

There are 5 categories of rights: Civil, Political, Social, Economic, and Cultural.
These rights include:

• The right to work, to just and fair conditions of employment, and to protection against unemployment
• The right to form and join trade unions
• The right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being, including food, clothing, housing, medical care and social services, as well as security in the event of loss of livelihood, whether because of unemployment, sickness, disability, old age or any other reason
• The right to education, which shall be free and compulsory in its "elementary and fundamental" stages
• The right to participate in cultural and scientific life

International human rights law requires governments to respect individuals’ civil and political rights – such as their rights to free speech, fair trial, and political participation – and to promote their econoimc, social and cultural rights – such as their rights to health care and education.

Traditionally, Civil and Political rights have been emphasised over Social, Economic and Cultural rights, however the Declaration on the Right to Development promotes the “indivisibility of rights”, that social, economic and cultural rights are just as important as civil and political rights for development.

How is Development Related to Human Rights?

When human rights are incorporated into development, there is a shift from dependency to empowerment of individuals as they work towards realising their rights. This is reinforced when development promotes and acknowledges the importance of rights, liberties and freedoms. There are many aspects within human rights and development theories that enhance the relationship between human rights and development. Issues such as globalization, cultural relativism, humanitarian intervention, impact both development and human rights approaches. Programmes promoting democracy and participatory methodologies also promote the human rights and development process.

You will find the following information on this page:

• Conferences and Seminars
• DERN Outputs
• Reports
• Useful Websites
• International Commitments
• Books related to Human Rights 

Conferences and Seminars

• The Irish Centre for Human Rights holds a number of lunch time talks, seminars, workshops and conferences. Information on their events is available on their website.
• The Intenational Human Rights Network are organise various training courses.  Information regarding upcoming courses is available on their website.
• Amnesty International Irish Section hold training courses in Human Rights Based Approaches.  See their website for details of the next course. 
  

DERN Outputs

• In May 2007, Dr Su Ming Khoo presented on the Right to Development at a "Reflections on Human Rights Today" Seminar organised by Amnesty Irish Section, in Galway. View Dr Khoo's presentation.
• An article in the 2005 Trocaire Development Review, by Dr Su Ming Khoo, The Millennium Development Goals: A Critical Discussion outlines some of the history linking human rights and development.

Reports

• UNCHR The State of the World's Refugees 2006. Human Displacement in the New Millennium

Documents linking Human Rights and Development

• Amnesty International Human Rights for Human Dignity. A primer on economic, social and cultural rights
• Declaration on the Right to Development
• Robinson, Mary (2001) Bridging the Gap between Human Rights and Development: From Normative Priniciples to Operational Relevance
• Third World Quarterly 2006 Vol 27 No 5 have a special issue on International Law and the Third World.
• UNDP Integrating Human Rights with Sustainable Human Development
• UNDP 2000 Human Development Report. Human Rights and human development

Human Rights and Education

• Action Aid: Education Rights: A guide for practitioners and activists

Websites 

NGOs/Non-Profit Organisations/Campaigns 

Irish Issues

• Irish Department of Foreign Affairs - Human Rights
• Irish Human Rights Commission aims to protect and promote human rights in Ireland. Their website include links to many of the their publications, as well as outlining their research.
• Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) aims to ensure that all children are given the opportunity to experience love and happiness, to stop discrimination and exclusion of children and to end cruelty and injustice to children.  
• Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission aims to ensure that the human rights of everyone in Northern Ireland are fully protected in law, policy and practice

International Issues

• Amnesty International and Amnesty Irish Section both provide information on their human rights campaigns, publications and resources.
• Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development is a regional human rights organisation advocating on social justice issues, sustainable human development, participatory democracy, gender equality, peace and human security through collaboration and cooperation among human rights organizations in the region.
• Human Rights Watch is an independant organisation dedicated to protecting human rights. Their website provides information by country, and their World Reports and their other numerous publications.
• ID21 communicates UK sourced research on international development. Their website provides numerous articles on development issues, including human rights. 
• International Federation of Health and Human Rights Organisations (IFHHRO) promotes monitoring health related human rights. Their website provides information on the Right to Health, IFHHRO activities and events, as well as reports and background papers.  
• Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa is an African non profit organisation aiming to promote human rights protection in Africa. In particular, they strive to promote human rights and development concerns in Africa to create an environment which is conducive to sustainable development.
• Journalists for Human Rights is a Canadian organisation, which works through partnerships with the African media to build capacity to report more effectively on human rights topics.   
• OneWorld.net provides information on a number of topics related to sustainable development and human rights.
• Physicians for Human Rights promotes health by protecting human rights. They have a number of publications related to their campaigns, for example HIV/AIDS, Darfur and Health and Justice for Youth
• Realizing Rights - The Ethical Globalization Initiative was founded in 2002 by Mary Robinson. Its mission is to put human rights at the heart of global governance and policy making and ensure that the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable are addressed on the global stage. Their website provides information on the critical issues they are working on, their activities and relevant speeches and documents.
• Save the Children campaigns for children's rights worldwide. The have a number of publications on the topic and also country specific websites.
• Third World Network is an international network of individuals involved in issues relating to development. They have an extensive human rights section on their website.

Research Institutes and Think Tanks

• Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights is a Harvard based research institute focusing on health and human rights in teaching, research and policy.   
• Irish Centre for Human Rights based in NUI Galway is the leading Irish centre for the promotion of human rights and humanitarian law. Their website provides information on their numerous events, courses and research projects.
• The Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Sussex, UK. The IDS is a global organisation for research, teaching and communications on international development.
• The Overseas Development Institute (ODI).  The ODI is a UK based independent think tank on international development and humanitarian issues.

Multilateral Agencies

• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is mandated to lead and coordinate international action to protect refugees and resolves refugee problems worldwide. Their website provides up to date information on their work, as well as numerous publications and research on refugee issues.
• UNDP has in recent years worked towards bridging the gap between human rights and development.
• UNICEF works for the survival, development and protection of children, guided in its programmes by the Convention of the Rights of the Child. Their website provides information on their work, country specific information and links to their publications.

Gateways

• Development Gateway This is an online resource providing information on development issues, including issues such as climate change in Africa.
• Eldis This site contains over 22,000 documents on a range of topics including Environment. It is one of many "knowledge services" from the Institute of Development Studies in Sussex, UK.
• Sustainable Development Gateway This site provides over 1,200 documents on sustainable development topics, as well as a calendar of events, job listings, mailing lists and news sites dealing with sustainable development issues.

News sites

• ReliefWeb This is an online gateway to information on emergencies and disasters. It is administered by the UN office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Their "Policies and Issues" section is an online library of reference materials covering humanitarian policies and development issues.
• Reuters

International Commitments

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948
• European Convention on Human Rights 1950
• Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women 1981
• Declaration on the Right to Development 1986
• Convention on the Rights of the Child 1990
• International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers 1990

Books and articles related to Human Rights

• Alston, P. (ed) (1994) The Best Interests of the Child. Reconciling Culture and Human Rights. UNICEF 
• Alston, P (1985) The Shortcomings of a Garfield the Cat Approach to the Right to Development. California Western International Law Journal 510
• Ansell, N (2005) Children, Youth and Development. Routledge
• Chimni, B.S (2002) ’Aid, relief and containment: The first asylum country and beyond’ in International Migration Vol 40 (5)
• Evans, T. ’If Democracy, Then Human Rights’? Third World Quarterly, Vol 22, No 4, 2001, pp623-642
• Evans, T. ’A Human Rights to Health?’ Third World Quarterly, Vol 23, No 2, 2002, pp197-215
• Forsythe, D (2 ^nd ed.2006) Human Rights in International Relations. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
• Freeman, M and Veerman, P (1992) The Ideologies of Children’s Rights. Boston
• Ghai (1994) ’Human Rights and Governance: The Asia Debate’ 15 Australian Year Book of International Law 1
• Ishay, M (2004) The History of Human Rights From Ancient Times to The Globalization Era. Berkeley: University of California Press
• Johnson, D and Symonides, J (1998) The Universal Declaration of Human Rights – a history of its creation and implementation 1948-1998 Paris: UNESCO
• Kalin, Walter, Muller and Wyttenbach eds.(2004) The Face of Human Rights. Baden: Lars Muller Publishers
• Manji, F. (ed), Development and Rights. Oxford: Oxfam, 1998
• Muchlinski, P.T. 'Human Rights and Multinationals: Is there a Problem?’ International Affairs 77, 1, pp1-47, 2001
• Orford, A (2001) ’Globalisation and the Right to Development’ in Alston, P (ed) People’s Rights OUP
• Pare, M (2003) ’Why have children disappeared? The role of international human rights law in protecting vulnerable groups’ The International Journal of Children’s Rights, Volume 11
• Piron, L.H (2002) The Right to Development: A Review of the Current State of the Debate For DFID
• Reality of Aid, ’Political Overview’ in Reality of Aid 2004: Focus on Governance and Human Rights, 2004
• Save the Children, Children’s Rights: Reality and Rhetoric, 2000
• Sen, A. ’Human rights and Economic Achievements’ in J.R. Bauer and D.A Bell, The East Asian Challenge for Human Rights. Cambridge: Cambrudge University Press, 1999
• Steiner, H. Alston, P (2000) International Human Rights in Context: Law, Politics, Morals. Oxford, Clarendon Press.
• Symonides, J (2000) Human Rights: Concepts and Standards. Alderdshot and Vermont,  Ashgate
• UNDP, Human Development Report 2000, Human Rights and Human Development. Oxford: OUP, 2002
• UNDP, Human Development Report 2002. Deepening Democracy in a Fragmented World, Ch 2 and 3, Oxford: OUP, pp 51-83
• World Bank, Development and Human Rights: The Role of the World Bank. Washington: the World Bank 1998

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