Solidarity/Collective Rights

(Third Generation of rights)

Peace, Development, Environment
Right to peace belongs to the category of
solidarity/collective rights. It is universally
recognized that peoples of the earth have a
sacred right to peace and that the preservation
of the right of peoples to peace and the
promotion of its implementation constitute a
fundamental obligation of each
State( Declaration on the Right of Peoples to
Peace, 1984).
 Right to development is another example of a solidarity/collective
right. Development is a comprehensive economic, social, cultural,
and political process which aims at the constant improvement of
the well-being of the entire population and of all individuals
through their meaningful participation (Declaration on the Right to
Development,1986). Amartya Sen defines it as a process of
expanding the freedoms that people enjoy and requires the removal
of major sources of unfreedom like poverty, tyranny, poor economic
opportunities, systematic social deprivation, neglect of public
facilities, intolerance or overactivity of repressive states (Barua-
Yap, 2003, p. 277). Poverty embraces the spectrum of conditions
where freedoms are diminished and denied (p. 278).
 The right to development was proclaimed in the Un
Declaration on the Right to Development (1986). It is also
recognized in the African Charter on Human Rights and
People’s Right and the Arab Charter on Human Rights. It is re-
affirmed in instruments like the 1992 Rio Declaration on
Environment and Development, the 1993 Vienna Declaration
and Programme of Action, the Millennium Declaration, the
2002 Monterey Consensus, the 2005 World Summit Outcome
Document and the 2007 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples (The Right to Development at a glance,
http://www.un.org/en/events/ [Accessed on October 5,
2013--- Ed.]).
 The right to environment is seen today as an important right because of
global warming, climate change, the damaging effects of environmental
pollution on human beings and the degradation of the world’s environment
that includes land, water and air. But the global recognition that human
rights and environmental protection are connected and that man has a
fundamental right to an environment that permits a life of dignity and well-
being became explicit only in 1972 at the Stockholm Conference. This
conference is considered an important starting point in developing
environmental law at the global and national levels. Principle 1 of
Stockholm Declaration linked environmental protection and human rights by
stating that “[M]an has the fundamental right to freedom, equality and
adequate conditions of life, in an environment of a quality that permits a
life of dignity and well-being, and he bears a solemn responsibility to
protect and improve the environment for present and future generations.”
 Women, Children, Persons with Disabilities,
Indigenous Peoples

The core international human rights instruments

that pertain to women and their rights are The
Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination
Against Women, Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination Against Women,
Convention on the Political Rights of Women and
Declaration on the Protection of Women and
Children in Emergency and Armed Conflict.
 Children

Although they are the world’s future, children across

the globe are denied their rights. They are exploited,
abused, maltreated, deprived of education, sold,
subjected, to cruel methods of punishment, and
discriminated against. These children are the street
children, child workers, child brides, child combatants,
child abductees, child offenders living lives without
parole, child refugee and children without education.
 Children as human beings have rights and because of their
vulnerability are in need of special care, attention and
protection. The full range of human rights and that children
should enjoy is found in the Convention on the Rights of the
Child, the first legally binding international instrument on
children’s rights. This Convention enumerates three (3) basic
rights that children everywhere should have, namely, the right
to survival, the right to develop to the fullest, to protection
from harmful influences, abuse and exploitation, and to
participate fully in family, cultural and social life (UNICEF
Convention on the Rights of the Child,
http://www.unicef.org/crc [Accessed on October 4, 2013----
Ed.]).
 To prevent the growing abuse and exploitation of children
worldwide, the UN General Assembly in 2000 adopted two
(2) Optional Protocols to the Convention. The first is the
Optional Protocols on the involvement of children in armed
recruitment and requires States to do everything they can
to prevent children under the age of 18 from taking direct
part in hostilities. The second is the Optional Protocol on
the sale of children, child prostitution, and child
pornography that draws special attention to the
criminalization of serious violations of human rights and
emphasizes the need for public awareness and
international cooperation to combat them (Ibid.).
 Persons With Disabilities (PWDs)

Article 1 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons With

Disabilities (2008) defines persons with disabilities as those
“who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory
impairments, which in interaction with various barriers may
hinder them full and effective participation in society on an
equal basis with others.” R.A. No. 7277 (Magna Cartas for
Disabled Persons), 1992, defines them as “those suffering from
restriction or different abilities, as a result of a mental, physical
or sensory impairment, to perform an activity in the manner or
within the ranged considered normal for a human being.”
 The United Nations estimates that there are 50 million
PWDs in the world today. Due to war and destruction,
unhealthy living condition, or the absence of knowledge
about disability, its causes, prevention and treatment,
the number increases every ( Person with Disabilities,
http://www.hrea.org/index.php [ Accessed on October
4, 2013 _Ed.]). The world health Organization (WHO)
estimates that 15% of the world’s population has a
disability and the prevalence is higher in post-conflict
countries.
PWDs suffer from discrimination and often do
not enjoy the same opportunities like other
people because of lack of access to essential
services. These vulnerable groups that face
discrimination include women, children, elders,
victims of torture, refugees, displaced persons
and immigrant workers ( Person with
Disabilities, http://www.hrea.org/index.php
[ Accessed on October 4,2013_ Ed.]).
The international instruments and documents that pertain
to PWDs are Declaration on the Rights of Mentally
Retarded Persons (1971), Declaration on the Rights of
Disabled Persons (1975), Declaration on the Rights of
Deaf-Blind Persons (1979), Convention no. (59)
concerning Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment
( Disabled Persons, 1983), Principles for the Protection of
Persons with Mental Illness and the Improvement of
Health Care (1991), Standard Rule on the Equalization of
Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (1993), Beijing
Declaration on the Rights of People with Disabilities
(2000) and Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (2007).
Indigenous Peoples
Indigenous peoples are those that have historically
belonged to a particular region or country before its
colonization or transformation into a nation, state and
may have different, often unique in terms of cultural,
linguistic, traditional and other characteristics to those
of the dominant culture of that region or state ( United
Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issue)