Resources

UN Council Resolution on Human Rights Education

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:35:00 EST

On October 1, 2009, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution, the World Programme for Human Rights, which calls for human rights education in schools and training programs for teachers, civil servants, law enforcement officials and military personnel.

The Key to Changing the United Nations System

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:33:00 EST

This foreword appeared in ConUNdrum: The Limits of the United Nations and the Search for Alternatives, edited by Brett D. Schaefer.

View the entire foreword as an Adobe Acrobat PDF.

Voting Practices in the United Nations, 2008

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:25:00 EST

The 26th annual Report to the U.S. Congress on Voting Practices at the United Nations.

The 2008 Humanitarian Accountability Report

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:55:00 EST

"The Report opens with John Borton's, An Overview of Humanitarian Accountability in 2008, highlighting the principle developments and accountability trends across the humanitarian sector throughout the year. The chapter provides an insightful review of the events and challenges in 2008 while drawing some overall conclusions on progress being made in the area of accountability. It concludes with a sense of optimism that the humanitarian system is moving in the right direction, towards HAP's vision of a humanitarian system championing the rights and the dignity of disaster survivors."

Global Governance vs. the Liberal Democratic Nation-State: What Is the Best Regime?

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:04:00 EST

In the 21st century the forces of global governance will directly challenge the liberal democratic nation-state in general and American constitutionalism in particular. What are the institutions and ideas of global governance and how do they threaten American constitutional democracy? What role do the European Union, radical Islam, international law, national identity, global immigration, and American philanthropy play in the coming battle between global governance and the constitutional state? How has the mainstream American left come to internalize the core arguments of global governance ("transnational progressivism") and redefined them as "American leadership?" What has been the response of the mainstream American right? How have the views of Francis Fukuyama, Robert Kagan, Samuel Huntington, John Bolton, and the Wall Street Journal influenced the mainstream right's response to transnational progressivism? What is at stake and what is to be done? These questions are examined in this essay.

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Thu, 01 May 2008 16:40:00 EST

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is a United Nations convention which entered into force in May 2008. The Convention defines the concept of "disability," and contains a non-exhaustive list of rights, including the right to accessibility, the right to liberty and security of person, the right to independent living, the right to personal mobility, and the right to participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport.

Patently Obvious

Thu, 01 May 2008 15:31:00 EST

Published in The American, this article criticizes the World Health Organization's Intergovernmental Working Group on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property (IGWG), which proposes weakening the international pharmaceutical patent system, as "counter-productive." According to the authors, IGWG's proposals would politicize R&D efforts, create an inefficient and ineffective R&D system, and disincentivize pharmaceutical companies from researching innovative new drugs.

Protect, Respect and Remedy: a Framework for Business and Human Rights

Thu, 01 May 2008 11:07:00 EST

This 2008 report is scheduled to be delivered to the Human Rights Council in June 2008 pursuant to the mandate of the SRSG on Business and Human Rights. The report lays out a three-part "framework" for corporate responsibility, which includes the state's duty to protect human rights, the duty of business to respect human rights, and the need for effective access to remedies for human rights abuses.

Ad Hoc Committee Report on the 'Hockey Stick' Global Climate Reconstruction

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:32:00 EST

Requested by Congress in 2006, the "Ad Hoc Committee Report on the 'Hockey Stick' Global Climate Reconstruction" is an independent analysis of the methods used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to determine its climate predictions and the resulting environmental consequences. Chaired by Edward J. Wegman of George Mason University, the panel of statisticians who conducted the analysis found considerable flaws with the techniques used by the IPCC. To access a copy of this report, please click here.

How the Millennium Development Goals are Unfair to Africa

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:14:00 EST

Those involved in the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) campaign routinely state “Africa will miss all the MDGs.” This paper argues that a series of arbitrary choices made in defining “success” or “failure” as achieving numerical targets for the Millennium Development Goals made attainment of the MDGs less likely in Africa than in other regions even when its progress was in line with the historical or contemporary experience of other regions. The statement that, “Africa will miss all the MDGs” thus paints an unfairly bleak portrait of Africa.

The Law of War in the War on Terror

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 11:11:00 EST

The Bush administration has literalized its "war" on terrorism, dissolving the legal boundaries between what a government can do in peacetime and what's permissible in times of war. Roth argues that this move may have made it easier for Washington to detain or kill suspects, but it has also threatened basic due process rights, thereby endangering us all. To access a copy of this document, please click here.

International Law and the War on Terror

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 11:03:00 EST

This paper analyzes two important legal questions raised by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the subsequent United States response. First, did the attacks of 2001 actually start a war, or “international armed conflict”? Secondly, what legal rules should govern the treatment of the al Qaeda terrorist network and the Taliban that supported it? Answers to both of these questions greatly impact how the war is conducted and the treatment of those captured. To access a copy of this document, please click here.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 11:01:00 EST

The UN Security Council Resolution 1373 was adopted September 28, 2001, just days after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. The Resolution intended to restrict the movement, organization and fund-raising activities of terrorist groups. It also encouraged member states to share their intelligence in an effort to fight international terrorism. Resolution 1373 created the Security Council's Counter Terrorism Committee [CTC], which was established to monitor compliance with these provisions. To access a copy of this document, please click here.

National Security Strategy of the United States of America

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 10:53:00 EST

The 2002 National Security Strategy was released one year after the terrorist attack of 9/11. The Strategy is prepared by the executive branch and presented to Congress, outlining the major national security concerns for the United States and how the President proposes to tackle them. The 2002 report details President Bush’s stance on U.S. military pre-eminence and the right of pre-emptive strikes. The document states, “we will not hesitate to act alone, if necessary, to exercise our right of self-defense by acting preemptively against such terrorists, to prevent them from doing harm against our people and our country” (6). This report created the Bush Doctrine and laid the groundwork for the United States’ approach to the war on terror. To access a copy of this report, please click here.

Right to Health Unit

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 11:27:00 EST

The Human Rights Centre is a project of the University of Essex in the United Kingdom. Its Right to Health Unit is devoted to the work of Professor Paul Hunt, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. The website provides information on the Special Rapporteur's work, including reports, resolutions regarding his mandate, press releases and interviews with Professor Hunt, presentations and other publications.

The Heartland Institute

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 10:42:00 EST

Founded in 1984, The Heartland Institute is a Chicago-based nonprofit research and education organization. Its mission is to "discover, develop, and promote free market solution to social and economic problems." Some of their primary focus areas include health care, education and the environment.

Senators Criticize U.N. Program in North Korea, but Question Set of Accusations

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:43:00 EST

To access this artcile, please click here.

Strengthening human rights-related United Nations action at country level: National human rights promotion and protection systems: Plan of Action

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:14:00 EST

In 2003, then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan published a report “Strengthening of the United Nations: an agenda for further change" (A/57/387). The Report called for the strengthening of national human right promotion and protection systems through enhanced inter-agency coordination and support to UN country teams in providing such assistance to interested Member States. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, in cooperation with the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) and the Executive Committee for Humanitarian Assistance, prepared a Plan of Action detailing the manner in which UN agencies would cooperate with in-country staff to integrate the human rights and development agendas. The Plan of Action evidences that UN human rights and development officials have adopted a holistic view of human security that includes both the “duty to protect” and the “duty to fulfill.” To access a copy of this document, please click here.

Fourth Session

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:11:00 EST

In June 2007, the WIPO Provisional Committee on Proposals Related to a Development Agenda (PCDA) adopted recommendations to be considered at the 2007 WIPO General Assembly. To access a copy of this document, please click here.

Development Agenda for WIPO

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:09:00 EST

In 2004, Argentina and Brazil proposed the establishment of a development agenda for the World Intellectual Property Organization. To access a copy of this document, please click here.