human rights

'Ever closer union' in need of a human rights policy: The European Union and human rights

This site contains the full-text of a Jean Monnet Working paper by Philip Alston and J.H.H. Weiler published by Harvard University in 1999. The document examines the existing strengths and weaknesses of human rights policy in Europe. In particular it focuses on the recognition of human rights issues in EU treaties and the current institutional arrangements. Criticisms of the current system are made. These include the belief that there is an excessive reliance on judicial remedies. Recommendations which include the establishment of new monitoring agencies are made.

Children and Armed Conflict Unit

The Children and Armed Conflict Unit is a joint project of the Children's Legal Centre and the Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex. Its aim is to provide information on the impact of war on children and to analyse existing human rights law in order to provide a better protection of childrens' rights. Its website provides information on the scope of the project, recent news stories relating to on-going conflicts worldwide, and details of the Unit's recent field visits to specific war zones.

human-rights-50 mailing list archive

This list is to encourage academic discourse on the impact of the International Declaration of Human Rights 50 years on. Open to researchers and students, this list seeks to explore current issues and questions of the future relevance of the declaration & to be a general information resource. The site contains an archive of all messages submitted to the list (they are retained for 2 years) which can be interrogated using the free text or keyword search facility.

United Nations Chronicle

The United Nations Chronicle is a quarterly magazine published by the United Nations Department of Public Information to provide news to the public about current UN activities. It covers a wide range of topics covering all aspects of United Nations responsibility, including health, economic development, human rights, United Nations reform and peace-keeping operations. Each issue contains articles on current UN activities in the field, interviews with leading UN personnel and first person accounts of situations.

Save the Children

Save the Children champions children's rights in more than 50 countries, including the United Kingdom. In the short term it provides emergency relief; in the long term its aim is to make children and families self-sufficient by promoting development. The site includes news and press releases, list of publications, a site for young people, hot topics, and frequently asked questions.

InterAction : American Council for Voluntary International Action

InterAction is a 'coalition of more than 150 non-profit organizations working worldwide and a leading advocate in the U.S. for humanitarian assistance to the world's poor.' The site includes information on the latest humanitarian emergencies, InterAction's Development Division projects, links to development-related and other external sites, extensive details of forthcoming events, InterAction publications and also access to many of the articles from 'Monday Developments' - InterAction's biweekly publication.

Womankind Worldwide

Womandkind Worldwide is a UK charity devoted to empowering women to to improve their lives and lift their families and communities out of poverty. Womankind works closely with 55 partner community groups in 15 developing countries and funds projects that address local issues. All projects involve familiarising women with their rights and enabling them to use their rights to benefit their daily lives; when necessary projects also lobby for new legislation to protect women or improve their status.

Council of Europe (ETS No.126) - European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

The full-text of the Convention that "provides for the setting up of an international committee empowered to visit all places where persons are deprived of their liberty by a public authority. The committee, composed of independent experts, may make recommendations and suggest improvements in order to strengthen, if necessary, the protection of persons visited from torture and from inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

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