The subject of human rights is a significant concern in today’s world because there are many cases of their violations and an open discussion on the topic of those rights’ limitations. This paper addresses several questions regarding human rights, including the United Nations’ involvement in enforcing those rights violations and the role of non-governmental organizations in addressing the issue. In addition, the paper contains the author’s thoughts on what an individual can do about human rights and related problems. The matter of human rights is crucial, and the United Nations’ governments, non-governmental organizations, and individuals can and should address that subject to make the world better.
First of all, human rights should be a global concern because the entire human race must ensure the implication of human rights worldwide and avoid possible violations. According to Ting-Toomey and Chung (2012), respect for human rights is recognized as a universal value, along with democracy, open society, and equality. Moreover, the authors see a direct connection between those values and the governmental institutions (Ting-Toomey & Chung, 2012). Human rights are a part of fundamental human goodness, and they are intimately connected with democracy and authority (Ting-Toomey & Chung, 2012). Respecting human rights strengthens the government, whereas violating those rights weakens it (Ting-Toomey & Chung, 2012). Therefore, the United Nations are interested in ensuring that human rights are not violated within their scope of authority since the more human rights are respected, the stronger the government.
However, everything described above is also why the nations often address human rights violations for their good and not as a sign of respect to universal human values. The primary purpose of human rights is to ensure world peace, and they should be implemented accordingly (Ting-Toomey & Chung, 2012). Nonetheless, sometimes a nation has to address human rights violations for the authorities’ excellent image and ensure that citizens respect the government and feel protected (Ting-Toomey & Chung, 2012). Although human rights are still defended in such cases, it would be more appropriate if the nations addressed violations to ensure the safety of human values and not for their benefit.
Considering the role of non-governmental organizations in addressing human rights, those organizations can significantly influence human rights’ implementations on the local level. According to Ting-Toomey & Chung (2012), any organization should promote the betterment of humankind, which cannot be performed without adequately understanding human rights and evaluating them. Moreover, suppose most of the non-governmental organizations respect universal human values and promote them. In that case, it can positively impact the general attitude to human rights in a particular country or even in the world.
When it comes to individuals, any person can contribute to human rights if they respect them personally and do not violate them. The previous sections of this paper describe the United Nations, the governments, and non-governmental organizations. However, all of them consist of people, meaning that any group, no matter how major it is, appreciates human rights if all individuals in that group appreciate them.
The universal significance of human rights is why the United Nations, non-governmental organizations, and separate individuals should respect those rights to perfect the world. Although the United Nations want to ensure that human rights are not violated, they often do it to strengthen their governments’ images. That is why the world cannot entirely rely on the nation, meaning that non-governmental organizations and separate individuals should respect human rights and address them adequately.
Reference
Ting-Toomey, S., & Chung, L. (2012). Understanding intercultural communication (2nd ed.). OUP USA.