The Global Citizenship Commission was convened, under the leadership of former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the auspices of NYU’s Global Institute for Advanced Study, to re-examine the spirit and stirring words of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The result – this volume – offers a 21st-century commentary on the original document, furthering the work of human rights and illuminating the ideal of global citizenship. What does it mean for each of us to be members of a global community? Since 1948, the Declaration has stood as a beacon and a standard for a better world. Yet the work of making its ideals real is far from over. Hideous and systemic human rights abuses continue to be perpetrated at an alarming rate around the world. Too many people, particularly those in power, are hostile to human rights or indifferent to their claims. Meanwhile, our global interdependence deepens. Bringing together world leaders and thinkers in the fields of politics, ethics, and philosophy, the Commission set out to develop a common understanding of the meaning of global citizenship – one that arises from basic human rights and empowers every individual in the world. This landmark report affirms the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and seeks to renew the 1948 enterprise, and the very ideal of the human family, for our day and generation.
The Global Citizenship Commission at the United Nations with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (Courtesy UN Photos)
Advancing Transformative Human Rights Education is an additional report written for the Global Citizenship Commission by a working group at the Center on Global Justice (University of California, San Diego).
These case studies on the implementation of key provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were prepared for the GCC by the Center on Global Justice and by Dr. Dimitrina Petrova, founding Executive Director of the Equal Rights Trust.
These case studies on the implementation of key provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were prepared for the GCC by the Center on Global Justice and by Dr. Dimitrina Petrova, founding Executive Director of the Equal Rights Trust.
These case studies on the implementation of key provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were prepared for the GCC by the Center on Global Justice and by Dr. Dimitrina Petrova, founding Executive Director of the Equal Rights Trust.
These case studies on the implementation of key provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were prepared for the GCC by the Center on Global Justice and by Dr. Dimitrina Petrova, founding Executive Director of the Equal Rights Trust.
These case studies on the implementation of key provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were prepared for the GCC by the Center on Global Justice and by Dr. Dimitrina Petrova, founding Executive Director of the Equal Rights Trust.
Introduction by Gordon Brown
Preface by Paul Boghossian
Acknowledgments
Executive Summary
Preamble
1. The Long and Influential Life of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
1.1 History of the UDHR
1.2 Affirming and protecting the UDHR
1.3 The changing context
1.4 The enduring relevance of the UDHR
1.5 Legal status
1.6 Foundational principles
1.7 Universality
1.8 Interconnectivity of rights
2. The Evolving Understanding of Rights
2.1 Rights of members of specific groups
a. The rights of women
b. The rights of children
c. The rights of the disabled, including the profoundly disabled
d. Rights related to sexual orientation
e. The rights of prisoners
2.2 Rights of groups as such
a. The right to national self-determination, including regional autonomy and subsidiarity
b. The rights of indigenous peoples
c. Ethnic cleansing
d. The rights of peoples prejudiced at the national or communal level by climate change
2.3 Rights related to other issues involving vital interests
a. Migration
b. Statelessness
c. Administrative justice
d. Corruption
e. Privacy from state or corporate electronic surveillance
f. Access to the Internet and electronic communication on a global scale
g. Extreme poverty and deep economic inequality
h. Healthcare
i. A safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment
2.4 An open task
3. Limitations and Derogations
3.1 Adequacy of Article 29 account of limitations
3.2 Derogation of rights in national or international emergencies
3.3 Regulation of the use of force
4. Social and Economic Rights
4.1 The importance of social and economic rights
4.2 Relation to availability of resources
4.3 Responsibilities for social and economic rights
4.4 Poverty reduction and other human rights
5. Responsibility for Human Rights
5.1 The special role of states
5.2 Other entities
a. Sub-national governments
b. International institutions
c. Corporations
d. Private persons
5.3 Responsibilities of rights-bearers
5.4 No closed model of responsibility
6. Implementation of Human Rights
6.1 Introduction
6.2 State of play on representative rights
a. Anti-slavery (Article 4)
b. Anti-torture (Article 5)
c. Free expression (Article 19) and free association (Article 20)
d. Education (Article 26)
e. Summary
6.3 Suggestions on implementation
a. Recommendations for strengthening the UN system on human rights implementation
i. Implement the recommendations of UN human rights mechanisms
ii. Enhance the OHCHR’s field presence
iii. Raise human rights concerns for consideration by the UN Security Council
iv. Limit the UN Security Council veto in the case of mass atrocities
v. Harness technology to enhance human rights accountability
b. National and regional legal systems
c. NGOs
d. Human rights education
i. The UDHR and human rights education for all
ii. The UDHR and human rights education since
iii. Transformative human rights education
iv. Advancing transformative human rights education
6.4 Sovereignty
a. General (human rights as limits on sovereignty)
b. Sanctions, denunciations, and other measures
c. Responsibility to Protect
7. Human Rights and a Global Ethic
Appendix A: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Appendix B: Members of the Commission
Appendix C: Members of the Philosophers' Committee
Online Appendices
Appendix D: Human Rights Education
Appendix E: Human Rights Implementation