BBA 2551 Unit 5 Essay – Goals of the United Nations Human Rights Council

Goals of the United Nations Human Rights Council

Columbia Southern University

Abstract

The United Nations created a body comprised of member states known as the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to promote international human rights (Chilton & Golan-Vilella, n.d.). While researching their website, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/Home.aspx, I could not located what their goals are for the organization as a whole. But what I have located was yearly reports that stated what they have accomplished and what they wanted to accomplish during that year. The council had a meeting in 2019, the most recent meeting, and I will be discussing some of the goals and the outcomes of that meeting. The right to food was one of the discussed topics and one that was “without a vote” between the council members. Another goal to be discussed was the right to freedom of religion or belief. That was “without a vote” as well between the council members. Additionally, the goal of human rights, democracy and the law was discussed and was decided “without a vote” between the council members. Are the council members accomplishing their goals or not will be listed in the paper below as well as the details pertaining to each. Some things I would recommend changing are also listed below and will be discussed toward the end of my paper. In all, the Human Rights Council doesn’t seem to have a set of goals, but an annual list of requirements they want to accomplish and make better.

Since the beginning of the United Nations Human Rights Council, adopted in 2006, the council has been promoting international human rights. Before 2006, the body comprised of members that formed the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), but since they were considered a bad “jury,” due to abhorrent human rights records, the Human Rights Council was created (Chilton & Golan-Vilella, n.d.). Since they have stood up, they have had a total of 42 Regular Sessions, known as meetings, where they discuss the goals and actions they need to take and hold them to votes. The next session is scheduled for 24 February 2020 to 20 March 2020. For my research, I looked back into the last session that was conducted on 9 – 27 September 2019. There, they had implements new goals and aspirations for the new year. Some of the goals/resolutions that were discussed during this meeting was the people’s right to food. Another goal/resolution was the people’s freedom of religion or belief. Both are great topics, but the real issue is what is being done about it. Yes, people can authorize freedoms and rights for the people, internationally, but how can someone fully enforce it? There are things that need to change or to implement along side the goals, a little further than what has already been done by this Council.

One of the topics discussed was the people’s right to food. This resolution was adopted without a vote and extended the Special Rapporteur for three years (United Nations Civil Rights Council, n.d.). This topic discussed the topic of an unacceptably large rise in the vast majority of hungry people that live in developing countries and that without increased efforts there is a risk of falling far short of achieving the target of the Sustainable Development Goals on ending hunger by 2030 (United Nations Civil Rights Council, n.d.). This is a large goal. The Human Rights Council strives to end global hunger and every man, woman, and child have a source of food to provide nutrients to their body and live. The right to food is not “exactly” like it sounds. This goal and the approval of the mandate is for the continuation of financial support to help fund the agencies providing relief to the countries of extreme poverty, and lack of food for their populations. This is an amazing goal to have for the world. Hunger is something that no one should live with. According to Alan D. Lieberson, a person can survive 1- 3 weeks without food, and that is with small sips of water. This of course can change depending on whether the person has access to a large water source or not. I believe the council is accomplishing this goal. There are many funded organizations out there that receive federal aide to help feed the starving people in different countries. The issue with this is the amount of people that is needed to fully accomplish this task as well as the amount of funding that is needed to end hunger. There are only so many people in the world that can assist in this effort. One thing I would do would be to get food that is cheap and fulfils the hunger craving. Rice, grains, etc. are great resources that are abundant, cheap, and easy to make as a meal. This food also fills up the stomach faster and expands in the stomach to help feel full with a smaller amount. Also, I would try and fund a side effort which helps train people to farm crops create a farming area to grow food. This will give the people a steady source of food, ending that countries hunger related issues.

Another goal the Human Rights Council wanted to cover was the right to freedom of religion and belief. According to their webpage, they stated during the meeting, “the Council condemns all forms of violence, intolerance and discrimination based on or in the name of religion or belief, and violations of the freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief, and any advocacy of religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, whether it involves the use of print, audiovisual or electronic media or any other means; and urges States to step up their efforts to promote and protect freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief, including to take all necessary and appropriate action, in conformity with international human rights obligations, to combat hatred, discrimination, intolerance and acts of violence, intimidation and coercion motivated by intolerance based on religion or belief” (United Nations Civil Rights Council, n.d.). The Human Rights Council wants to end hatred around the globe and enforce the right to practice religions and beliefs safely without being judged and criminalized. This is a hard goal to achieve. People now are more judgmental and scared of things they do not understand. Because of this, people will judge and shun what they do not know and understand to make themselves feel safe. Also, people have the mentality that if someone doesn’t agree with them, then the other person must be wrong. In my opinion, this goal is not being accomplished. Yes, there are schools that teach religion and beliefs of many cultures, and there are briefings in the workplace about the acceptanct of cultural beliefs of their employees, but that isn’t enough. So many media outlets do not speak about religion, and since the media is todays number one information outlet, people become more and more unaware. I would legalize the freedom of speech on religion in all schools so that the up and coming generations have a better understanding of people and what they believe in. People are afraid of Islamic cultures because of the current wars. This was caused by a select amount of people. Judging the entire religion is wrong. You have extremists in all religions, yet, because of the actions of a few, we judge the whole. The Human Rights Council really needs to reevaluate how they can adjust this goal to a more achievable outcome.

Another goal the Human Rights Council discussed and wants to accomplish are human rights, democracy and the law. In easier context, this relates to “justice for all.” This goal is one that I care deeply about. This is not being enforced enough by the council as a whole. But then again, people can be easily influenced to make judgements and decisions of the accused. Bias also has a lot to do with the situations. Even the judges have bias and can decide regardless of the jury’s decision. Today, there are people being sentenced that never committed the crime, and people being released when they have been proven guilty. So, is it really “justice for all,” or justice for some? Also, your social class seems to have an impact on what sentence you receive or what length of time you get for the crime you committed. The lower class cannot afford top lawyers, and due to the lack of money, may not look like they are well put together. This can cause them to have harsher sentences because they look the part of an inmate, a thug, gang member, drug addict, etc. Now, the rich can be let off with warnings, community service, or a fine well within their financial budget. The two classes can commit the same crime, but because of social class and status, will receive sentences on the opposite of the spectrum from eachother. This needs to change. So many people make mistakes, and get treated like they have ended the world. Also, money can move mountains in this world. Everything can be resolved with limited impact if the money is right. One thing I would do is to make all the sentences the same, all bond the same, bail the same, length the same, and fines the same. If there is one set standard, like there should be, money shouldn’t effect the situations and social stature shouldn’t decide the decision of how you will be treated.

The Human Rights Council is doing the best they possibly can given their power. People are still people, and goals that can be achieved are slowly going in the right direction. Others on the other hand need better reevaluation and policies implemented to help make things fair for all people. This council is still fairly new and has a lot of reforms to conduct and policies to implement. I believe that the world cannot function without the council. Human rights are what make this world a fantastic and diverse place. Without their protection, the overall impact would be devastating, and the world can quickly become corrupt. There are many more topics that have been discussed and goals that have been set by this group, but the three listed above are ones that stood out the most to me. Overall, the function of this group has made great strides in making this world safer and a better place to live due to the rights that we are granted and the protection from the council to allow is the ability to practice those rights.

References

Chilton, A.S., & Golan-Vilella, R. (n.d.). Did the Creation of the United Nations Human Rights Council Produce a Better “Jury”?. Harvard International Law Journal. Retrieved from https://harvardilj.org/2016/10/did-the-creation-of-the-united-nations-human-rights-council-produce-a-better-jury/

Lieberson, A. (2004). How Long Can a Person Survive Without Food. Scientific American. Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-long-can-a-person-survive-without-food/

United Nations Civil Rights Council. (n.d.). Human Rights Council Adopts 12 Resolutions. Retrieved from https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=24389&LangID=E