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Human rights reflect a determined effort to protect the dignity of each and every human being against abuse of power. This endeavour is as old as human history. What is relatively new is the international venture for the protection of human dignity through internationally accepted legal standards and generally accessible mechanisms for implementation. That mission got a major impetus with the founding of the United Nations in 1945. While the primary focus of the international project for the realisation of human rights used to be on ways and means of limiting and governing political power, other institutions than the state are coming within its range of attention, too, including those of the corporate world. Recently, a 'human rights approach' to poverty has gained a prominent place on the development agenda. When human rights are seen as not just legal resources but also political instruments, this means that power is to be regarded as legitimate only if international human rights standards are followed. Legitimacy, in other words, becomes the core concept, referring to the right institutions and principles, the right procedures and also normatively acceptable outcomes. Hence, rights-based approaches to overcome poverty imply efforts to address economic injustices as well, in the first place at the level of the global economy as such.

Gathers the results of a number of public opinion surveys on human rights, including the salience of human rights in foreign policy and the situation in the Soviet Union and Korea. Also reports on the coverage of human rights in newspapers. (CP)

Human rights are the fundamental rights and freedoms that belong to everyone, everywhere throughout their lifespan, by virtue of being human. They apply regardless of a person's thoughts, beliefs or behavours and cannot be permanently removed, though there are som circumstances under which they can be restricted, including when a person commits a crime or when they are detained under mental health legislation. Human rights are based on values such as dignity, respect, equality and authonomby and are enshrined in law.

Introduction -- The four paradigms or ideal-types in the discipline of international relations -- The different debates in the discipline of international relations -- Realism : theory and (the effectiveness of ) international human rights treaties -- Liberalism : theory and the effectiveness of international human rights treaties -- Institutionalism : theory and the effectiveness of international human rights treaties -- Fairness : theory and the effectiveness of international human rights treaties -- Transnational legal process : theory and the effectiveness of international human rights treaties -- Managerial process : theory and the effectiveness of international human rights treaties -- The autonomous legal discourse and the appellative or the discursive effect of human rights.

Human rights are among the key concepts of sustainability science because they constitute the basis for sustainable well-being in any given society. Human rights form an understanding of a world in which individuals and peoples can trust in justice and claim rights by virtue of being human. The idea of an international human rights law is that it is not up to a specific government to decide how it treats individuals and peoples living in its territory. Thus, human rights form a discourse of emancipation with a universal outreach. They are essential to achieve sustainable development as specified inthe 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which indicates that the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is based on human rights. However, there are some tensions that continue to oppose SDGs to human rights. This is partly the case in relation to the rights of Indigenous peoples, an issue that will be further explicated in this contribution with regard to the situation of the Indigenous Sámi people. This chapter elaborates on the concept of human rights from the perspective of sustainability sciences. It explores human rights as a concept of law and as a concept of global politics, and it analyzes its differing functions depending on the contexts in which it is applied. This contribution considers the recent interconnections of human rights with the issues raised by sustainable development and the rights of Indigenous peoples. ; Peer reviewed

Financial resources : present and future / Charles Elliott -- Water supply in developing countries / B.H. Dieterich -- Domestic water supply : right or good? / Gilbert F. White -- Domestic water supplies for rural peoples in the developing countries: the hope of technology / Ian Burton -- Water supplies : the consequences of change / David J. Bradley -- The food potential / N.W. Pirie -- Whither the food and population equation? / W.H. Pawley -- Food supplies for physiologically vulnerable groups / Derrick B. Jelliffe, E.F. Patrice Jelliffe -- Health services and medical education in China : a brief report / O. Mellander -- The control of communicable disease : problems and prospects / Geoffrey Edsall -- Cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit aspects of preventive measures against communicable diseases / B. Cvjetanovic -- The basic human right to the means of controlling fertility / Malcolm Potts -- Personal health care : the quest for a human right / Maurice King -- Bottlenecks in implementation : some aspects of the Scandinavian experience / Wenche B. Eide, Mogens Jul, Olof Mellander

Discusses legislation, human rights in relation to security, implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Parliament, multiculturalism, minority rights, and the right to life; 10 articles.