Clearly,
the UN Charter has human rights at the core of its interest as a world
organization. Secretary General Kofi Annan has taken the UN's chartered
commitment further in his term, bringing rights to the forefront of many
different UN programs and agencies, creating a philosophical-moral standard
against which all nations will measure themselves. How does the UN insist
on a universal commitment to human rights while maneuvering within its
own mandate to respect national sovereignity?
Through the appointment of a High Commissioner on Human Rights, the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, and six nearly universally ratified human rights treaties, the UN states unequivocally its priority.But how, then, can these treaties be effectively measured and implemented, when the work is dangerous, budgets and staffs are limited, and governments who, for their own reasons, refuse to cooperate with a globally accepted morality?
Through the appointment of a High Commissioner on Human Rights, the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, and six nearly universally ratified human rights treaties, the UN states unequivocally its priority.But how, then, can these treaties be effectively measured and implemented, when the work is dangerous, budgets and staffs are limited, and governments who, for their own reasons, refuse to cooperate with a globally accepted morality?
Thematic
and country-specific rapporteurs can besent to check on progress and report back to the
UN's larger human rights machinery which itself
must struggle against
backlash and machinations by uncooperative governments to reduce its effectiveness.
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