Human Rights: Core Challenges and Proposed Solutions

Human Rights: Core Challenges and Proposed Solutions

Held at the Ludwig Boltzman Institute for Human Rights in Vienna, this workshop addressed ways to foster global justice and human rights and how these two concepts can complement and enrich each other and ultimately contribute to a more just and thus stable world order.

The Issues

The relevance of human rights in the 21st century: Has the concept of human rights as a universal set of values become stronger or is it ending?  Are human rights universal and are they still relevant in 2015 and beyond?

A stable and durable world order governed by human rights: Considering the erosion of the nation state and emergence of new power alliances and structural challenges, alongside persisting global injustice, how can human rights and global justice concepts mutually reinforce each other to contribute to a value-based and stable global world order?

All human rights for all?  Wealth and income disparity as a challenge to a stable and just world order: What are the causes of the enormous wealth and resource disparities between the poorest and richest states and individuals around the world, and if this state of affairs can be considered to violate human rights norms then who are the perpetrators?  What are the the destabilizing effects of this phenomena on the likelihood of global justice and are there possible solutions which might revers or rectify the situation?

Population migration in a globalized world—Challenges, opportunities, and possible solutions: What are the causes of population migration and the major challenges and destabilizing effects resulting from it?  How have states, international organizations and civil society dealt with migration and which opportunities and possible solution does population migration present in terms of seeing a stable and fair global world order?

Climate and environmental justice—A central challenge for a just and stable world order: Which ideologies and policies have contributed to changes in our climate and environment and what might be the outcome of these environmental changes in terms of both stability and human rights? Could the inclusion of concepts of environmental or climate justice in our understanding of human rights or global justice strengthen our pursuit of global stability, peace and justice?

Participation and inclusion of all actors: Is the existing human rights system sufficient for the challenges to come, or is there a need for a substantial reform of it or is it that an utterly new system is required to deal with the human rights issues of the 21st century? And, what can we learn from the field of human rights in terms of the mechanisms and institutions necessary for achieving a just global world? Can the implementation gap between policies and mechanisms which should contribute towards global justice, and the reality of persisting global injustice, be narrowed by the introduction of new and innovative mechanisms or by the changing, updating or removing of old mechanisms? And finally, how should the international community deal with armed conflicts (e.g. the responsibility to protect) and the relationship (and possible) tension of human rights and security?

Organizer:

  • Manfred Nowak
    Director, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights, Professor of International Law and Human Rights and Head of Research Center on Human Rights, University of Vienna
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