Seventy-five years after the signing of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, much still needs to be done to defend and
strengthen the institutions of global governance and confront the catastrophes
of our time, writes Magdalena Sepúlveda.
Seventy-five years after the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (UDHR), the international community is again challenged to
cooperate or perish. This statement by the Chilean diplomat Hernán Santa
Cruz, one of the intellectual fathers of the UDHR, has acquired heightened
meaning in Africa and everywhere else because of the extreme suffering of
civilians caused by the wars in Ukraine, the Middle East, Sudan, the Sahel,
Afghanistan, and beyond.
The UDHR was humanity’s response to the “disregard and contempt for human
rights (which) have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the
conscience of mankind”. It affirmed “the advent of a world in which human
beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear”. It
embodied rights that the United Nations Charter adopted in 1945 to save
succeeding generations from the scourge of war, promote social progress, and
improve living standards. Founded just three years earlier, the United Nations
was the only forum in which all countries could come together to discuss common
problems and find shared solutions for the benefit of humanity. Its three
pillars remain respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, maintenance
of peace and security, and sustainable development.
Regrettably, these goals are still aspirations, and global solidarity seems to
have receded. In addition to the horrors experienced by the victims of wartime
atrocities, large segments of the world’s population live in fear of misery,
and the world confronts several simultaneous crises: an unprecedented level of
inequality, the triple planetary emergencies of climate change, pollution and
loss of biodiversity, receding civic space, the COVID-19 pandemic (from which
we have not yet recovered), and the risk of new epidemics. Together, these
crises hold a sword of Damocles over humanity.
Once again, women and girls suffer disproportionately and unequally. The sexual
assaults on women during Hamas’ brutal attacks on Israeli civilians on 7
October are a shocking example of this.
The International Criminal Court is investigating mass rapes and alleged
reports of violence against and affecting children in Sudan’s Darfur region.
Women and children also account for two-thirds of those killed in
Gaza by Israel’s devastating military response. In this bombardment, two
mothers are killed every hour and seven women every two hours, while the rest
survive in panic and anxiety. Survivors have been forced to flee their homes and
seek protection in overcrowded shelters without food, water, medical supplies,
or privacy, increasing the risk of death and further sexual violence.
In common with other conflicts, the wars in Ukraine, the Middle East, Sudan and
Ethiopia have multiplied the number of widows, women who overnight become
household providers, obliged to ensure the survival of their family members
alone and in fear.
Seventy-five years after the UDHR was proclaimed, the
pursuit of gender equality remains elusive. The UN has warned that, if current
trends continue, more than 340 million women and girls – 8 per cent of all
women worldwide – will live in extreme poverty by 2030. Nearly
one in four will endure moderate or severe food insecurity.
Without
global agreements, the effects of wars and crises make a decent life
unreachable for most people. It is imperative to restore the moral and legal
foundations of the international system, which rests on respect for human
rights, the principles of multilateralism, the values of democracy, and a
rules-based global order. We cannot passively accept the dilution of the
principles of the UN Charter and disregard for the rights enshrined 75 years
ago in the UDHR, because all nations share these values and norms.
In our context, adherence to the legal principles of human rights, which
underpin humanist values, becomes an obligation rather than a choice.
All societies should respect the inherent dignity of every human being, while
inter-State relations should respect the principles of equal rights,
self-determination and international cooperation: these values must guide legal
and economic conduct, because they create the conditions in which it becomes
possible to achieve stability and sound international governance, discourage
conflict, and reach equitable solutions to crises, including the climate
emergency.
Resolution on taxation
In this context, a recent initiative of the United Nations, championed by
Nigeria and supported mainly by countries of the global South, offers a shaft
of hope. On 22 November, states passed a historic resolution on international
taxation. It introduced a process that could bring the discussion on global
taxation from the OECD, a club of rich countries, to the United Nations.
This resolution, promoted by African states and other emerging
countries, aims to create a convention on international tax cooperation. This
would open a path to building a fairer and more inclusive international tax
system, one that does not benefit rich countries alone or increase the wealth
of the few but provides sufficient resources to developing economies, which are
the big losers in the current system.
The US and some of its allies voted against it at the UN last month. But since
even advanced economies require resources to address inequality, they will
probably become involved at some point during the process. If the negotiations
for such a convention go in the right direction, it could lead to higher tax
revenue and, thus, more resources to invest in public services and development.
The key is to ensure that corporations pay a fair proportion of their income in
tax and the revenues are distributed fairly among states.
At first sight, this may seem a small matter in the face of today’s threats.
But the truth is that it responds to a historic demand of the global South and
can give multilateralism a fresh start. It proves that the United Nations is
still a forum where we can cooperate not to perish, as my
compatriot Santa Cruz pointed out.
Roosevelt, Chair of the UDHR Drafting Committee, once said: “It isn’t enough to
talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it.
One must work at it.” Today, this means defending and strengthening the
institutions of global governance and taking practical steps to confront the
catastrophes of our time, promote social progress, improve living conditions,
and protect human rights for all.
Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona
Magdalena Sepúlveda is a former
UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights. She is a member of
the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation
(ICRICT) and Executive Director of the Global Initiative for Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR).