Dispatches - December
UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health speaks at the European Commission
Brussels – The Special Rapporteur’s work on the right to sexual and reproductive health was presented to the European Commission in commemoration of International Human Rights Day.
The presentation, by Ms. Gunilla Backman, Senior Research Officer to UN Special Rapporteur on behalf of Mr. Paul Hunt, highlighted the role of a human rights approach to health in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
Ms. Backmann began with an overview of the work of the Special Rapporteur and elaborated on the meaning, scope and challenges related to sexual and reproductive health rights. She then addressed the issues of maternal mortality and health systems from a right-to-health perspective.
“Several of the MDGs - on maternal health, child health and HIV/AIDS - are directly related to sexual and reproductive health rights. The crucial role of sexual and reproductive health rights in relation to the MDGs should be made explicit,” said Ms. Backmann. “Sexual and reproductive health rights have a vital role to play in the struggle against poverty, gender inequality, HIV/AIDS and intolerance.”
Related publications by the Special Rapporteur, produced with the support of the European Commission, include: Reducing Maternal Mortality - The contribution of the right to the highest attainable standard of health and The Rights to Sexual and Reproductive Health.
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UN Launches One-Year Campaign on 60th Anniversary of Human Rights Declaration
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GENEVA – A year-long campaign launched on 10 December (International Human Rights Day) to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has called on decision leaders to reaffirm their commitment to the Declaration’s values and principles whenever they can.
“I hope that today is really the beginning of a year that will have a lot of echoes where the human rights agenda of the United Nations will be very broadly discussed, endorsed, and more importantly, I hope, implemented,” said Louise Arbour, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, at a press conference to launch the campaign.
The High Commissioner, in response to questions, reaffirmed the protection of cultural specificity in the Declaration. “Cultural relativism, that is any claim that there are either religions, histories or cultures that are inconsistent with the Universal Declaration, in my view, is not sustainable.” She added that the expression of fundamental human rights varies depending on traditional, cultural or religious values, but that no one can reject the fundamental human rights principle that all human beings are born free and equal in rights.
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Using Culturally Sensitive Approaches |
