STWR - Share The World's Resources

Human rights are increasingly viewed through the rhetoric of military intervention, democracy and political freedom, whilst the UN's pivotal role in securing social and economic rights in the developing world continues to be marginalised, argues Robin Willoughby.

The following talk by STWR was given at a seminar hosted by World Goodwill on the theme "Human Rights, Spiritual Responsibilities - A Crisis for Democracy?", held in London on the 1st November 2008. A transcript and audio of the talk below is presented by Adam W. Parsons.

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. 

Why, you might wonder, does Germany feel the need to barricade the G8 meeting, protecting it from the thousands of expected protestors? The answer lies in the deep unpopularity of G8 summits, writes Mohammed Mesbahi, since they are considered undemocratic by the majority world and protestors from the richest countries.

The global economy needs to be reformed to ensure that nasic human needs are secured around the world, and the United Nations is currently the only international body through which such fundamental change can be facilitated.