Human Rights

In adopting the Programme of Action for a Culture of Peace, the General Assembly retained "Actions to promote respect for all human rights" as one of the 8 action areas.

As mentioned in the section on Sustainable Development the economic and social rights in articles 23-25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Right are especially important, because, under the present circumstances, they are not being fully respected for all citizens by most Member States.

Article 23
Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
Article 24
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
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. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

The United States refuses to ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and other states, although they have ratified this Covenant, are not able to fully implement it by ensuring the full economic and social rights of their citizens, let alone make the changes in international economic relations that would be needed if poor countries were to ensure full economic and social rights within their own countries.

As stated in the section on sustainable development, it seems doubtful that univeral economic and social rights can be achieved under the present circumstances because economic growth of the powerful nations continues to be achieved through "military supremacy and structural violence and achieved at the expense of the vanquished and the weak." One can only agree with the Copenhagen Declaration adopted by the World Summit for Social Development, which stated in 1995:

... social development and social justice cannot be attained in the absence of peace and security or in the absence of respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Recognizing the complementarity between the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the analysis that led to the Declaration and Programme of Action for a Culture of Peace, we published the full text of the UDHR as an annex to the original edition of the UNESCO Monograph on a Culture of Peace in 1995. Hopefully, in the future these two key documents may be used together to help unify and strengthen the struggles for both economic justice and a culture of peace and non-violence.

Issues

Index

News about Culture of Peace

Historical Perspective

Seville Statement on Violence

National Programmes for a Culture of Peace

Definition of Culture of Peace

UN Declaration and Programme of Action

International Year and Manifesto 2000

Decade and Midterm Report

Main Actors for a Culture of Peace

Role of Mass Media