Human rights are fundamental freedoms and dignity that are inherent to all people. They cannot be taken away from a person and can only be violated by the actions of others. Human rights cover all areas of a person’s life and include civil and political rights, economic and social rights and cultural and spiritual rights. Human rights treaties set out the standards that governments must respect and protect.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, many human rights issues gained international attention, including advances in abolition of slavery and child labour and moves to secure voting rights for women and equality for all. People can call on their government to uphold their human rights and can take action if they feel their government is failing to do so.
The United Nations and some other countries have established treaties to protect human rights. These are international legal agreements enforceable by courts. People from these countries can also go to a tribunal or other body in their country to make a complaint about a violation of their human rights.
However, even though international laws exist to protect human rights, there are still ongoing violations. This is because governments can – and often do – violate the human rights of their citizens. They may do this through war or by their treatment of minority groups, for example. Or, they may do it by failing to provide basic services such as education or health care.
This is a global issue, and there are many organisations working to improve human rights around the world. Some focus on specific groups such as indigenous peoples or women, while others work to promote the universality of human rights and encourage everyone to take part in defending them.
It is not possible to achieve real progress on human rights without an international community that stands up for them. This means that wealthy countries should help developing countries, but they must be careful not to impose their own systems of government, dispute resolution and so on. They should support democracy and economic growth but also recognise that this is not the same as forcing other countries to adopt Western institutions, ways of thinking and values.
Many governments, political parties or candidates, social and economic players and civil society organisations use the language of human rights but fail to uphold human rights standards themselves. This is known as a double standard and can be due to a lack of understanding of what human rights are about or because they want to appear ‘good’ in the eyes of the international community.
There is no country in the world that has a perfect record on human rights. There are, however, a growing number of areas where people agree that certain practices should not be tolerated: slavery is no longer acceptable, for example, while female genital mutilation and the death penalty have been widely condemned. The aim is to make sure that every person, in every country, can lead a full and happy life.