The Fifty-Fifth Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights

2000 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Dennis

The fifty-fifth session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights took place in Geneva from March 22 to April 30, 1999, and was chaired by Ambassador Anne Anderson of Ireland. The Commission reviewed the state of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the world, adopting eighty-two resolutions, fifty-eight by consensus, and thirteen decisions.More than thirty-two hundred participants represented fifty-three member and ninety-one observer states, over two hundred nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and some fiftyfive specialized agencies and other organizations. Secretary-General Kofi Annan underscored the priority he attaches to human rights by stating that “the promodon and defense of human rights is at the heart of every aspect of our work and every article of our Charter. ”

1993 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 9-11

1993 has been declared the International Year of the World's Indigenous People (IYWIP) by the United Nations. The major objectives of the IYWIP are to increase international co-operation in finding solutions to the problems faced by the world's 300 million indigenous people and to promote and encourage respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms throughout the world.


Author(s):  
Florence Ross

Kofi Annan (1999), the Secretary-General of the United Nations, noted that, “A Society for All Ages is one that sees elders as both agents and beneficiaries of development. It honors traditional elders in their leadership and consultative role in communities throughout the world.” Older persons are among the world resources most often unseen and overlooked. It therefore becomes necessary to raise the consciousness of older people to their changing role in American and global societies to ensure fulfillment in their eldering years. Prior prejudice against elders has prevented inclusion of their enormous potential, of their accumulated experience and wisdom. This paper is directed toward determining how best to utilize the talents, wisdom and life’s experience of these elders to add meaning and substance to their lives, while affording them the opportunity to continue to contribute their talents and abilities as political activists and leaders directed toward peacemaking and social change.


2004 ◽  
Vol 03 (01) ◽  
pp. E
Author(s):  
Pietro Greco

On 16 January 2004, the United Nations Secretary-General and Nobel Peace Prize winner Kofi Annan launched a Global Media Aids Initiative, with the aim of convincing the press, radio, television and Internet to join the fight against what has been called the "forgotten disease of the forgotten continent". Throughout the world, over 40 million people have the Hiv virus. In 2003 there were 5 million new infections and 3 million deaths were caused by Aids.


2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 239-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Gilmour

Ever since the Charter of the United Nations was signed in 1945, human rights have constituted one of its three pillars, along with peace and development. As noted in a dictum coined during the World Summit of 2005: “There can be no peace without development, no development without peace, and neither without respect for human rights.” But while progress has been made in all three domains, it is with respect to human rights that the organization's performance has experienced some of its greatest shortcomings. Not coincidentally, the human rights pillar receives only a fraction of the resources enjoyed by the other two—a mere 3 percent of the general budget.


2001 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 213-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Dennis

The fifty-sixth session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights took place in Geneva from March 20 to April 28,2000, under the chairmanship of Ambassador Shambhu Ram Simkhada of Nepal. The delegations of fifty-three member states and ninety-one observer states werejoined by 1760 representatives of 224 nongovernmental organizations. The Commission ultimately adopted one hundred resolutions and decisions, three-fourths of them by consensus.


1972 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 23-26
Author(s):  
Louise W. Holborn

While the world press has focused over the past year on problems surrounding the creation of still another refugee population in Africa — that of Uganda's Asians — far too little attention has been directed to the remarkable though still fragile process of repatriation and resettlement of hundreds of thousands of Southern Sudanese. This population of displaced persons includes both refugees who fled to other countries and large numbers of homeless who hid in the bush during the civil war that wracked the Sudan for seventeen years, from 1955 through the first months of 1972. Responding to the initiatives of President Gaafar al-Nimeiry of the Sudan, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (HCR), under an explicit mandate from the Secretary- General of the United Nations, has been raising funds, organizing activities on behalf of the most pressing needs and working closely with all local interests to meet overwhelming problems.


Author(s):  
Richard Falk

This chapter reflects on the role as special rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC), which investigated the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The chapter first provides an overview of the role and office of special rapporteur, noting that UN concerns about Israel and responses to Palestinian grievances are highly politicized within the organization, before discussing some of the characteristics that distinguish the mandate established by the HRC and made applicable to Occupied Palestine. It also explains what was accomplished in six years as special rapporteur of the HRC and details the controversies and pressures attached to that job. It shows that the “UN” comprises different layers, agendas, and interests. The chapter claims that while the United Nations secretary-general in New York permitted personal attacks against the special rapporteur, the leadership and professionals of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva strongly supported his efforts in what the chapter calls the “legitimacy war”.


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