Nachhaltigkeit in Wald und Gesellschaft trotz «Überalterung» und «Unterjüngung» (Essay)

2013 ◽  
Vol 164 (8) ◽  
pp. 236-239
Author(s):  
Werner Schärer

Sustainability in forest and society despite “overmaturity” and “lack of regeneration” (essay) This essay compares efforts to move towards sustainability in the forests with those in the care for the elderly in Switzerland, and tries to draw conclusions which may promote sustainability. It is wrong, for forests and human populations, to talk of “overmaturity”, as this assumes the primacy of economic reasoning. To guarantee sustainability, the balance between all aspects is crucial. To attain true sustainability, we need binding guidelines and the “right” scale of implementation programme. Civil society organisations have been working for decades – often longer than the state itself – to improve sustainability. In many different areas, good cooperation and effective distribution of tasks between these institutions can be observed. This is important, among other things, because the ever greater speed of technical progress may overwhelm the adaptive capacity of both forests and people, which would influence sustainability in a negative way.

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-45
Author(s):  
Alvine Longla Boma

Civil Society organisations play key roles in African countries. This is not an exception in the Cameroonian dispensation. Indeed, the existence and operation of civil societies in this jurisdiction is legitimated by a 1990 law allowing the free formation of associations. Even though the state has the primary obligation to promote and protect human rights, there also exists a plethora of associations with the same interest. This paper is motivated by the state’s wanton failure in ensuring the enjoyment and fulfilment of the right. For one thing, the state has maintained a stronghold on the Civil Society through legislation which gives public authorities a leverage over human rights defenders. Moreover, an analysis of existing legal and institutional frameworks available to allow human rights non-governmental organisations thrive, leaves much to be desired. Findings reveal that though there are adequate laws and institutions which ensure the creation and functioning of Civil Society organisations in Cameroon, there are also contradictory laws which give the public authority an edge over these organisations and allow them to sanction the activities of some human rights defenders under the guise of maintaining public order. We argue that there should be adequate protection offered to human rights defenders as well as the relaxation of laws permitting public authorities to illegally sanction the activities of relevant non-governmental organisations.


Author(s):  
Mykola Polishchuk

Euthanasia is a good death in Greek. According to Wikipedia, «euthanasia» is the termination of a person's life in a quick, painless way. Euthanasia is used in people who have incurable diseases and no longer want to suffer from pain, their condition. The term «euthanasia» was first used by F. Bacon to denote easy death in the 17th century. Since 2020, certain types of euthanasia are legally allowed in Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, parts of Australia, and in some of the sUS states. Palliative and hospice care is sometimes seen as a relative alternative to euthanasia. There are two types of euthanasia – active, which involves the administration of a dying person, drugs that cause rapid death, and passive – intentional cessation of maintenance therapy to the patient. Active euthanasia is often considered suicide with medical help, if the doctor gives the patient a drugs that will shorten his life at the request of the patient.. In Ukraine, the actions of a doctor for euthanasia are considered premeditated murder. The coronavirus pandemic has shown that many countries of the world are ready to introduce passive euthanasia, that is, in the event of mass morbidity, not only ideas are spread, but also projects about the inaccessibility of medical care for the elderly in order to save young people, about limiting the hospitalizations of elderly people with a serious illness, which requires mechanical ventilation with a shortage of ventilators and hospitals that can provide oxygenation. The debate over euthanasia revolves around the following issues: people have the right to self-determination and independent choice of destiny; helping the sick people to die may be a better choice than suffering; the difference between active and passive euthanasia is insignificant; permission for euthanasia does not necessarily lead to adverse consequences. Disputes often take place at the ethical or religious level. Opponents of euthanasia defend the right for life under any circumstances, and the adoption of the law expands the cohort of patients with euthanasia and hope for life. Keywords: euthanasia, death, life, consciousness, stroke.


2012 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 1-44
Author(s):  
Saiful Karim ◽  
Okechukwu Benjamin Vincents ◽  
Mia Mahmudur Rahim

AbstractThis article reviews some of the roles environmental lawyers have played in ensuring environmental justice in Bangladesh. It leans on law and social movement theories to explicate the choice (and ensuing success) of litigation as a movement strategy in Bangladesh. The activists successfully moved the courts to read the right to a decent environment into the fundamental right to life, and this has had the far-reaching effect ofconstituting a basis forstanding forthe activists and other civil society organisations. The activists have also sought to introduce emerging international law principles into the jurisprudence of the courts. These achievements notwithstanding, the paper notes that litigation is not a sustainable way to institute enduring environmental protection in any jurisdiction and recommends the utilisation of the reputation and recognition gained through litigation to deploy or encourage more sustainable strategies.


1996 ◽  
Vol 8 (S1) ◽  
pp. 137-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margareta Grafström

The general aims for the care of the elderly in Sweden are to ensure financial security, good housing, service, and care for the elderly. In this regard, two pieces of recent legislation apply: the Social Service Act of 1982 and the Health and Medical Services Act of 1983. The 1982 act emphasizes the right of the individual to receive public service and help at all stages of life; the 1983 act is intended to maintain a good standard of health and to provide care on equal terms for all. In summary, both laws emphasize that help is to be given to everyone who needs help to support himself or herself in everyday needs. Further, this help should be given in as normal a setting as possible. This means that society should help the elderly to remain in their homes for as long as possible, and that the integrity and autonomy of the elderly should be preserved in the home-care environment.


Author(s):  
Maria Stuttaford ◽  
Gabriela Glattstein-Young ◽  
Leslie London

This article explores how participants of a Learning Network, comprising members of six civil society organisations and academics from four universities, understand and participate in a dialogical process of co-learning and knowledge generation about the right to health. First, we describe a co-research process that facilitates the surfacing of previously suppressed or undocumented knowledge on the right to health. Second, we explore how co-research captures and disseminates knowledge related to collective action undertaken by civil society organisations working towards translating the right to health into practice. While undertaking this exploration, we maintain an interest in an African appreciation of ‘collective’ knowledge. Through the dialogical process and spiral of reflection, power between the research partners has been shared and spaces for co-learning and co-research created. Subaltern knowledge on the right to health has been placed within a constellation of plural knowledges, rather than at the periphery. Surfacing ‘other’ knowledge on the right to health reflects the lived realities of people and assists in understanding how the right to health can be achieved in practice. Keywords: Health and human rights, participatory action research, co-learning, co-research, knowledge, South Africa


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-82
Author(s):  
ELZBIETA GRZYWACZ ◽  
ALEKSANDRA JARON

In the 2020s we are faced with a problem of an ageing society. Not only do we see it and struggle to provide care for the elderly, but we also focus on constantly maintaining a good form related to our well-being as well as physical, mental and social functioning. The publications used in this review were sourced from the PubMed database and from Google Scholar. The paper uses articles published in English which are not older than 5 years. A‪nalysis of the latest literature has shown that there is evidence that modifiable factors have a positive effect on our well-being and health. The best effect can be achieved by combining positive actions in the field of diet, supplementation, moderate but systematic physical activity, and adding the right amount of sleep per day.


Afrika Focus ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Solomon Tekle Abegaz

Preventable maternal death as a human rights concern is gaining greater momentum. This article examines the normative framework applying to maternal mortality, and highlights the important link that exists between women’s right to health and several other rights. It then discusses the differing, yet complementary, aspects of the nature of women’s right to health as a right relevant to shaping a human rights approach to maternal mortality, namely: achieving health-care services that are available, accessible, acceptable, and of high quality; engagement of civil society organisations in the promotion and protection of women’s health rights; and ensuring functioning accountability mechanisms. Even though the country recognises the right to health and other complementary rights in its current constitution, and also subscribes to numerous human rights instruments that incorporate the right to health, which equally apply to women, the article finds that there is a selective approach to women’s access to health goods and services; the room for mobilising civil society is restrictive; and an inefficient accountability system exits. Relying on the requirements of human rights norms and standards, the article argues for the potential role of operationalisation of the rights-based model to further reducing or eliminating maternal mortality in the Sustainable Development Goals period. Key words: human rights, maternal health, maternal mortality, rights-based approach to health 


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