Geography Paper 2 - Human Rights

What are human rights?

• The basic rights and freedoms which all humans are entitled

• They are applicable at all times and they protect everyone

When was the declaration of human rights and give 2 examples

• 1948

• Article 5 - no one should be subjected to torture or cruel treatment or punishment

• Article 9 - no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile

How many articles are there in total?

30

What are human rights norms?

• Ways of living that have been ingrained into the culture of a country over long periods of time

• They are based on morals

What does UDHR stand for?

Universal declaration of human rights

What is the most ratified of all human rights?

• UN convention on the rights of a child

• Changes the way children are viewed and treated

• Describes what a child needs to grow, survive and achieve full potential

Are human rights protected by law?

• They are protected by international law but are non-binding

What is infant mortality rate?

Annual number of deaths of infants under 1 per 1000 live births

What is inetervention?

Use of military force by a state or group of states in a foreign territory to end the violation of human rights

Advantages of intervention

• Effective at stopping violations

• Can have immediate benefits for locals

• Contributes to long term socio-economic development

• Leads to political stability

Disadvantages of intervention?

• Injuries and deaths of civilians

• Loss of homes

• Population displacement

• Increase in human rights abuses

• Widening of socio economic injustice

How does the UN organise intervention?

• They establish a mandate so workers and troops are authorised and are drawn from a wide range of member states

• Usually military is non-force only using force in self defence

• UN team works to protect and promote human rights

Example of a regional organisation

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

Example of a non-governmental organisation

ICRC - International Committee of the Red Cross

Example of a public-private partnership

Global alliance for vaccines and immunisation

What is global governance?

Intervention by global community attempting to regulate issues of human rights

What are geopolitics?

• Global balance of political power and international relations

What are geopolitical transitions and what is an example?

• How the world order or power has shifted

• The cold war from 1946-1989

Why does geopolitical power have uneven spatial distribution?

• Inequalities of power depend on wealth, political strength and development

• USA is the only superpower but China is the worlds leading trade nation

• Advanced countries are often more powerful due to colonisation and emerging and developing tend to have less power

What are supranational political and economical organisations and give 3 examples?

• UN, EU AND ASEAN

• Group of states which have greater geopolitical influence than their member states due to combines strength

What do organisations need to know in order to intervene in human rights issues?

• Political composition of the countries involved

• Nature of intervention

• Reasons why intervention is necessary

• Features of country government and people affected

• Possible political, economical, environmental and social consequences

• Complexity of human rights issues

What is forced labour?

• Where people are coerced into work through the use of violence or intimidation

How many people are victims of forced labour?

• Globally 21 million people

• 11.4 million women/girls

• 9.6 million boys/men

What does forced labour include?

• Children denied education because they’re forced to work

• men unable to leave work due to debt

• women and girls exploited, unpaid, abused

Where is forced labour most common?

• South East Asia

• Central Africa

• Haiti

What are factors influencing forced labour?

• Poverty, unemployment, low wages

• Conflict, corruption, political instability

• Escaping climate disasters

• Gender inequality, age, enslaved families

What is maternal mortality rate?

• The death of women while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy

• Lowest figure in Europe, Italy

Factors that affect MMR

• Access to treatment

• Quality of medical services

• Level of political commitment

• Availability of info and education

• Cultural barriers

• Poverty

What treaty protects women’s rights?

• Convention on elimination of all forms discrimination against women

What part of capital punishment is the denial of the most basic human rights?

• The death penalty

• 2014 there were 607 executions

Factors influencing capital punishment

• Differences between types of crime in different countries

• The incidence of its legality under national law

• Increase in the number of countries where it is being abolished

• Number of communications and pardons

What is gender inequality?

Unequal treatment of individuals based on their gender

How is gender inequality demonstrated?

• Forced marriage involving children

• Trafficking involving sex slavery

• Access to education and health care

• Employment and political opportunities

• Wage equality

• Violence against women

What is CEDAW?

Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women

What does CEDAW do?

• Strengthens the rule of law and reinforces norms to outlaw gender discrimination

• NGOs work within local communities to help battle discrimination

How is educational opportunity involved in women’s rights?

• There have been improvements in the enrolment of females into primary education

• Education is key to empower women so they can achieve success in labour market

• When education improves, fertility rate drops, infant mortality falls

• UNICEF is a lead agency for girls education

Factors influencing female participation in education

• Costs prohibit them from moving further in education

• Household obligations fall to girls

• Female education is only a benefit to the family she marries into not the one she has come from

• Negative classroom environments

• Insufficient female teachers

• Girls exploited by child labour

Factors affecting female reproductve health

• Sexual violence

• Forced sterilisation

• Harmful practices such as FGM

• Sexually transmitted disease HIV

• High young pregnancy

• Access to reproductive education

What is labour force participation rate?

The ratio of females to males within a country’s working population (15yrs+) that looks for or works

Factors affecting employment?

• Social norms

• Cultural and religious beliefs

• Levels of childcare support

• Degrees of safeguarding

• Levels of discrimination

Strategies for global governance of human rights

• Attempts to change or modify norms

• Work of NGOs, private organisations

• Influence of MNCs

• Creation and application of laws

• Role of UN peacekeeping

What violations cause conflict?

• Denial of needs such as food housing

• Discrimination and denial of freedom

• Unrepresented government

• Oppressive governments

• Genocide or torture

How are violations a consequence of conflict?

• High mortality of military involved in fighting

• Damage to homes and property

• Damage to infrastructure like transport and schools

• Impacts on food and water

• Displacement of people

• ‘ethnic cleansing’

how can technology be used to help intervention?

• important for communication

• Satellites used for surveillance in areas too late for conventional observation

How do aid workers and foreign aid contribute?

• Required for peacekeeping missions of the UN

• Funds are provided by member states

• NGOs in Haiti are funded by 5 million dollars in foreign aid

What is the UN and what does it do?

• The united nations

• 193 member states

• Human rights are at the core

• Many agencies are involved to protect human rights

• Security council deals with grave violations

What are NGOs and what do they do?

• Part of civil society

• Can monitor and provide early warning of new violence through education, training, water conservation, improved sanitation

What are treaties/laws and what do they do?

• Treaties are formal written agreements between groups of countries which are binding in law

• Drawn up by the UN or regional organisations

• Combination of legal and practical methods are used to protect human rights

How do human rights interventions contribute to development?

• Rights are essential for sustaining development

• UN millennium development goals show how rights and development are closely linked

Short term benefits of global governance

• Medical assistance and medicine provision

• Shelter, sanitation, food and water

• Military protection against further casualties

Short term negatives of global governance

• Damage to property and infrastructure

• Displacement of a population

• Further disrespect of human rights

• Disrupted education

Long term benefits of global governance

• Improvement in health and life

• Education equality

• Improved transport systems

• Development of infrastructure

• Accepted social norms