STWR - Share The World's Resources

Sixty years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and in a world gripped by conflicts erupting on almost every continent, what hope is there for extending respect, freedom and rights to everyone? Perhaps it's time to rethink the politics of human rights for the 21st century, says Nick Fraser.

Robert Mugabe’s coronation is the time to start preparing in detail for the aftermath of his regime, say Ashraf Ghani and Clare Lockhart.

Social movements come and go, represent all manner of political beliefs, and aim to achieve their political objectives by influencing a particular target group’s opinion. Some groups reach out directly to just a few key decision makers or constituencies, while others act more indirectly by broadcasting their message to as wide an audience as possible.

During its first session – from 4 October till late in the evening of 21 December 2007 - the Fifth Committee had the arduous task of reaching agreement on the UN’s programme budget for 2008/2009. There has been a clear understanding since 1986 among Member States, that the budget would be adopted by consensus. This time, however - at the request of the US - a recorded vote had to be taken on the budget by the General Assembly on Saturday 22 December.

Answering questions on Radio 4's World Tonight about the bomb attack on its offices in Algiers, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was cut off in mid-sentence. When asked why the UN was targeted, she started to say: "Unfortunately, the UN is not any more the innocent, humanitarian organisation that can work anywhere," before she was hustled on to the next question as to why the UN didn't take better precautions against attack.

307 peacekeepers. That’s what the U.S. contributes to the United Nations. As of March, 2007 the U.S. ranked 43rd among the world’s nations in providing peacekeeping support, right after Togo and Rwanda.

Mass protests and demonstrations, the trademark and personification of the global justice movement, must take place outside the systems of power and hope to make themselves ‘heard’; world opinion, on the other hand, is an unmitigated force of consensual mass agreement that holds no party allegiances or crystallised form.