Posted: June 11th, 2022

Human Rights

Human Rights
Opinion
Every human being under the sun can enjoy human rights without discrimination based on any single premise. However, despite constitutions and the United Nations, among other organizations advocating for these rights, I cannot help but think about the people who cannot enjoy them. According to the UNHCR, there are 26 million refugees worldwide, half of whom are under the age of 18 years (UNHCR, n.d.). There are also 76.5 million people in the world that have been forced to flee from their homes. These individuals cannot fend for themselves because they do not enjoy their countries’ safety and security. Yet, most of them are in this position because they have been discriminated against based on their sex, ethnic origin, religion, status, or residence. Despite my support for the text, I believe that certain actors make it harder for others to enjoy human rights even if I understand that everyone is entitled to them.
Issues Presented
In this text, the main issue presented is that certain aspects that can be used to describe an individual may be infringed, causing them not to enjoy their human rights. These factors include an individual being discriminated against based on their nationality, residence, sex, national or ethnic origins, color, religion, language, or any other status. Yet the interesting fact is that despite the amount of civilization the world has come to, certain malicious actors still see to discriminate against others. Discrimination based on color, religion and sexual preferences being the most widely experienced by people today. The lingering police brutality can witness this against black people, non-English speakers or people from lower-income statuses not only in America but in other countries, the stereotypes that exist surrounding transgender individuals or people that ascribe to queer sexual orientations, typecasts that Muslims still experiences that stem from the 9/11 bombings and the association of the religion to terrorist groups, as well as the inequality of how refugees are treated in other countries.
Based on this, further research suggests that further underlying issues are what challenge the enjoyment of human rights by people. Poverty lies as the main issue that challenges human rights. Additionally, global inequalities, conflict within certain countries, impunity, weak governmental institutions and democracy deficits also play a huge role in causing individuals not to enjoy these rights (Humanrights. Com, n.d.). Furthermore, knowledge, capacity, commitment and security gaps cause the implementation of solutions to be limited. This is because the serve as barriers to implementing solutions to end the fight for human rights and bring forward the equality of everyone in the world.
Solutions
Essentially, the solutions to ensuring people do not experience human rights violations lie in preventing all forms of discrimination against people. Nnedv.org (2017) suggests that one of the ways would be to recognize and understand one’s own privilege, for instance, being able to live in a safe environment is a privilege and recognizing this, understanding that others may not enjoy the same should motivate one to help others gain access to their rights as well. Calling for people to examine their biases and be more considerate with others will also help reduce the prejudices that exist in the world. Additionally, showing commitment towards making a change or facilitating change within areas where their human rights do not favor people is another step towards helping in the fight for equality.

References
Humanrights.com. (n.d.). Challenges, report by United Nations, Kofi Annan: United for human rights. Retrieved from https://www.humanrights.com/voices-for-human-rights/human-rights-challenges.html
Nnedv.org. (2017, March 21). 8 everyday way to fight racism – Elimination of racial discrimination. Retrieved from https://nnedv.org/latest_update/8-everyday-ways-to-fight-racism/
UNHCR. (n.d.). How many refugees are there around the world? Retrieved from https://www.unhcr.org/figures-at-a-glance.html#:~:text=How%20many%20refugees%20are%20there,under%20the%20age%20of%2018