What about the minorities?
Vaishnavi Murali, reporting from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), construes the views of the committee on the issues of human rights of the minorities in the development sector.
The UNHRC came to a consensus after a day of disagreement and voted to suspend formal debate and move into an informal debating session to discuss the issues faced by the minority groups in their respective countries and around the world, and proceeded to suggest plausible solutions and reforms to tackle these problems.
Delegates spoke about various domains under this topic. Topics such as the denial of human rights, discrimination at employment sectors, mental health issues faced by the affected groups, like depression due to isolation, cultural and religious intolerance, forced rejections, inadequate access to justice, staged disappearances and arbitrary displacement, to name a few, were discussed by the delegates.
The Delegate of the Kingdom of Spain (Spain) spoke about the impact of minorities on the development sector. He stated that immigrants, who are minority community, have contributed to the nation’s economy. The Delegate stated that 90% of those have been employed in various sectors, while the remaining 10% were self-employed. The major area where they flourished was in the agricultural sector.
Some delegates also suggested tactics to deal with these issues. In the speech made by the Delegate of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK), the delegate stated that there are three major strategies to promote the alleviation of minority communities—participation by the minority communities in decision-making processes, inclusion of all communities by values that appreciate equality, and by fulfilling obligations to those communities by implementing policies that support and promote their rights. The Delegate also mentioned the need to provide every community with proper income and access to healthcare, nutrition and education, among several other factors.
Some delegates also suggested the improvements that had been made by their governments to promote inclusivity, to ensure that everyone got equal access to opportunities and to help disadvantaged groups.
The Delegate of the Republic of Iraq (Iraq) covered the economic aspect of the problems. The Delegate mentioned that the Government of Iraq, with aids from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), more commonly known as the World Bank, set up a project called the Iraq Social Fund for Development (SFD) to provide monetary support to minorities in the fields of agriculture and education, to name a few, to help them in sustenance. The Delegate also spoke about the problems faced by women like intimate violation by their partners and genital mutilation, and how it would benefit them to become independent.
Taking on another aspect of equality and development, the Delegate of the French Republic (France) addressed the issue of education by alluding to the measures taken by the Government of France in providing fair access to education. The education system of France was established in 1886, embodying the principles of French republicanism, grounded on the principles of universalism, uniformity, and equality of opportunity. The system was brought into effect by the establishment of priority education zones, which decreased insecurity among the people, according to the delegate.
Yet another train of thought was presented by the Delegate of New Zealand who spoke about the several conventions set up by the Government of New Zealand, like the Convention 169 for Indigenous Tribes and Convention 102 for Social Security, that have helped in the development of the citizens. The delegate also spoke about the National Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) Program, which was initiated by the New Zealand AIDS Foundation for helping the victims of this deadly disease. The delegate also spoke about the necessity to consider the problems of the homosexual community in various countries. The delegate stated that while some countries have passed laws, making homosexuality legal, there are some other countries that are yet to decriminalise it.
With the different perspectives put forth in the committee by the speakers, the members of the committee came to the conclusion that this pertinent issue needs to be addressed for the benefit of the citizens of the global community.
(Edited by Harsha Sista.)
The Role Of Vitamin M
Vaishnavi Murali, reporting from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), deciphers the opinions of the members of the committee on the effect of financial crises on development and human rights, covering the economic aspect of the agenda.
The members of the UNHRC came to a concord to discuss about financial crises and their linkage to the agenda.The Delegate of India spoke about how financial crises cause political instability in the government. The delegate went on to state that at such a time, the governments would have to take austerity measures. Austerity measures refer to official actions taken by the government during a period of adverse economic conditions to reduce its budget deficit using a combination of spending cuts or tax rises. The Delegate also mentioned how government officials lack accountability during such situations.
The Delegate of the French Republic (France) spoke about another aspect, where during financial crises, there is a pressure of scrutiny and thus, there is the pressure on the government officials for a tradeoff between stability and accountability. The delegate admitted that transparency decreases during such times, but also reiterated that economic stability must not come at the cost of human rights.
The Delegate of the People’s Republic of China (China) spoke about recessions and business cycles, which are cycles or series of cycles of economic expansion and contraction. The delegate stated that such situations affect a country’s economy, which affects the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of a country. In order to stabilise it, governments would have to seek loans from banks. The delegate gave an example of the financial crisis of November 2008, which affected China’s financial market and the macro economy, where the Government of China had to rebalance the economy to sustain high growth.
In answer to a question, the Delegate of the Federal Republic of Germany (Germany) stated that development had to be understood as the progressive expansion of individuals’ freedom. Individual freedom and human rights, according to the delegate, are an intrinsic aspect of development, and thus it is difficult to establish whether human rights are two sides of the same coin or not. The Delegate also spoke about a report by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), also known as the World Bank, of 2004, which spoke about the need for a consistent approach to solve financial crises.
The Delegate of the Kingdom of Belgium (Belgium) introduced a new term in committee, called Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, which are documents required by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank before a country can be considered for debt relief within the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, for tackling financial crises in countries that have been badly affected by any financial crisis.
The Delegate of Bangladesh was of the opinion that if the government was not fit enough, the citizens were helpless. The delegate stated that seeking help from foreign nations was one solution. The delegate also stated that in some cases, the economy and stability of the government was more important than human rights, because, for the implementation of any right, the economy should be functioning. According to the delegate, it was only then that rights could be well-exercised and the government could provide better support and provisions for rights. The delegate also stated that if the GDP was not stable, human rights cannot be exercised properly. Money is needed for food, jobs, education, healthcare et cetera, and thus if people had all rights without a stable economy, they would revolt for rights that the government would be unable to provide, cording to the delegate.
The delegates of the committee discussed various such viewpoints, and came to a conclusion that financial crises were indeed linked intrinsically with human rights and directly to the development of a nation.
(Edited by Harsha Sista.)