Chapter 5 introduces you to the topic 'Human Rights'.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
On December 10, 1948 the
General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
All member countries of the
United Nations were asked to publicize the text of the Declaration;
people need to know and understand their rights so they can be protected.
The Declaration is now
available in over 360 languages and is the most translated document in the
world.
I have selected
three Articles from the Human Rights Declaration and tried to relate them to
some contemporary issues to show whether these Articles in the Declaration are realisitc. I hope this will set you thinking so you can relate other issues to The Human Rights Declaration.
Article 1 All human beings are born free and equal in dignity
and rights.
Are those in poverty stricken
nations born with equal dignity and rights as those living in developed countries?
There is still discrimination
against gender. It is obvious that most Chinese families still prefer a male
heir who will inherit the family name and fortune; the Indians give females
second class status, so incidents where female infants are killed are not
abnormal.
Discrimination is still rife against people because of their sexual orientation. Although same-sex
marriages are now legalized in some countries, homosexuality is still a stigma
in most countries.
No matter how we try, there will always be discrimination against the
handicapped. Those physically and mentally handicapped, the deaf and the blind
all face obstacles when they try to get a position in the workforce.
Article 19. Everyone has the right
to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold
opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas
through any media and regardless of frontiers.
In most countries, there will be
some form of control over freedom of expression, whether it be freedom of
speech, freedom to write or freedom to publish. North Korea
retains a very high ranking when it comes to censorship.
Social
media is carefully monitored in many countries. Wikipedia and the popular
networking site Facebook are both banned in China.
Article 25. 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.
To provide even the barest minimum for survival in
most Central African countries is sometimes almost impossible.
This Article in the Human Rights Declaration has
proved very expensive to developed countries. Unemployment benefits also
encourage people to be lazy. In fact, the United Kingdom has a Job Seeker’s
Allowance to make sure the citizens are actively looking for a job.