The General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 1948. In addition to the Preamble, it contains 30 Articles that guarantee the universal freedoms and rights of every individual human being irrespective of nationality, sex, language, religion, political opinion or social origin. The basic rights named in the Declaration include the right to life, liberty and security of person, the right to education, freedom of thought, conscience and religion, freedom of opinion and expression. They also encompass the right to work, the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution as well as freedom from fear, hardship, torture and slavery. The Declaration, which itself has no binding character under international law and is automatically accepted by every new member state on accession to the United Nations, forms the foundation of international human rights protection together with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 10 December has been considered international Human Rights Day since 1948.
German Human Rights Projects
Germany has signed all the main treaties of the European Union, the Council of Europe and the United Nations on the protection of human rights. Germany contributes to the protection of human rights with projects and initiatives worldwide. In Central Asia, for example, the establishment of a human rights dialogue between the EU and the countries of the region within the framework of the EU-Central Asia strategy is founded on a German initiative in 2007. On a bilateral level, in Kazakhstan, for example, Germany has supported freedom of information and the press as well as projects against human trafficking and torture and contributed to ensuring that the death penalty is only imposed for terrorist acts and serious crimes committed during wartime through initiatives such as a round table made up of government and civil society representatives.
In its support for the reconstruction effort in Iraq, Germany has financed and organized human rights seminars for Iraqi judicial officers. The Berlin Centre for the Treatment of Torture Victims (BZFO) has developed an Internet-based platform for treating traumatized civil war refugees in Iraq. In various regions of the world Germany is also engaged in efforts to recognize the human right of access to clean drinking water and basic sanitary facilities. In Kenya, for example, Germany is backing the government in its reform of the water sector – and thus also the development of an improved water supply infrastructure. In Africa, Germany has been supporting a supraregional project against female genital mutilation since 1999. The populations of Burkina Faso, Benin, Mali, Mauritania and Kenya are being informed of the negative consequences of female genital mutilation and attempts made to convince them to give up this practice.
United Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations is the most important organization supporting respect for human rights worldwide. The United Nations did not only define the protection of human rights as one of its main aims in Article 1 of its Charter, but also created a special body for this purpose: the Human Rights Council based in Geneva. It is the United Nations’s central political body for dialogue and cooperation on human rights issues and replaced the Commission on Human Rights in 2006 to strengthen the human rights work of the United Nations. The 47 elected member states of the Council primarily consult on how the protection of human rights can be improved and discuss the human rights situation in individual countries. The most important foundations for their work are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the six international human rights treaties with their supplementary protocols. Germany was elected to the new body for three years on 9 May 2006.
German Human Rights Projects
Germany has signed all the main treaties of the European Union, the Council of Europe and the United Nations on the protection of human rights. Germany contributes to the protection of human rights with projects and initiatives worldwide. In Central Asia, for example, the establishment of a human rights dialogue between the EU and the countries of the region within the framework of the EU-Central Asia strategy is founded on a German initiative in 2007. On a bilateral level, in Kazakhstan, for example, Germany has supported freedom of information and the press as well as projects against human trafficking and torture and contributed to ensuring that the death penalty is only imposed for terrorist acts and serious crimes committed during wartime through initiatives such as a round table made up of government and civil society representatives.
In its support for the reconstruction effort in Iraq, Germany has financed and organized human rights seminars for Iraqi judicial officers. The Berlin Centre for the Treatment of Torture Victims (BZFO) has developed an Internet-based platform for treating traumatized civil war refugees in Iraq. In various regions of the world Germany is also engaged in efforts to recognize the human right of access to clean drinking water and basic sanitary facilities. In Kenya, for example, Germany is backing the government in its reform of the water sector – and thus also the development of an improved water supply infrastructure. In Africa, Germany has been supporting a supraregional project against female genital mutilation since 1999. The populations of Burkina Faso, Benin, Mali, Mauritania and Kenya are being informed of the negative consequences of female genital mutilation and attempts made to convince them to give up this practice.
United Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations is the most important organization supporting respect for human rights worldwide. The United Nations did not only define the protection of human rights as one of its main aims in Article 1 of its Charter, but also created a special body for this purpose: the Human Rights Council based in Geneva. It is the United Nations’s central political body for dialogue and cooperation on human rights issues and replaced the Commission on Human Rights in 2006 to strengthen the human rights work of the United Nations. The 47 elected member states of the Council primarily consult on how the protection of human rights can be improved and discuss the human rights situation in individual countries. The most important foundations for their work are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the six international human rights treaties with their supplementary protocols. Germany was elected to the new body for three years on 9 May 2006.
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