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The United Nations Declaration Of Human Rights

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Do you believe that there is a universal human rights regime or that human rights are more regional in nature?

I argue that human rights are more regional in nature, due to three specific factors; economic development, political discourse and cultural relativism.

The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was created in the wake of the utter destruction that was World War Two. Constructed in 1948, it was the result of a collaboration between forty-eight countries. Though not legally binding, it provided a basis for basic human rights. The UDHR consists of thirty articles outlining the rights that every human being is entitled to, such as education, freedom of speech and the right to work (). This revolutionary document …show more content…

In Asia there is a lack of any cohesive human rights discussion, and in the Middle East there is no active Human Rights charter.

Alfredo Sfeir-Younis argues that organizations that deal with economic development avoid human rights issues because the two topics are distinct. Now, this argument holds true only if one views human rights as strictly legal obligations. A deeper analysis shows that, on the contrary, human rights are a crucial component of and often act as catalysts for economic development. For instance, the UDHR states that everyone has the right to shelter. In the less developed regions of the world, there is a severe lack of shelter for much of the population. In the last fifty years, many of these regions have seen significant economic growth thanks to the rise of the free trade market. However, the focus on economic growth has proved detrimental to the growth of individual rights. An example of this consequence can be found in the unprecedented economic growth that Asian countries such as China and Korea have seen in recent years. The push for expansive aggressive growth in these countries concentrates solely on the economy, while pushing away civil and political rights. This is to the disadvantage of those with lesser skill sets. This paradigm also places immense pressure on less developed countries to develop, which is extremely difficult as they are at a

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