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1, 2002, 1-17
uman dignity is the quintessence of human rights. It is the wide comprehension of this aspect and appreciation of the amplitude of dignity of the individual, unit of the human family, which must define the true scope of human rights. All human rights for all and the world is one family are concepts which have depended on the expanded meaning of human rights assuring full human dignity to every member of the human race in the global village. Globalization of human rights by making it universally accepted and eradicating global inequities is the clarion call of the current human rights movement. Achieving this end must be the agenda of the human rights movement in the new millennium. The emphasis on human dignity is laid in the UN Charter, Universal Declaration of Human Rights and several international covenants as also in the Constitution of India, which mentions dignity of the individual as a core value in its Preamble. Human rights are indivisible, inter-dependent and inter-related, and have a definite linkage with human development; both share a common vision with a common purpose. The debate on the classification of human rights based on different generation of these rights is purely academic since all of them must co-exist. Respect for human rights is the route for human development and realization of the full potential of each individual, which in turn leads to augmentation of the human resources with progress of the nation. Empowerment of the people through human development is the aim of human rights. The Human Development Index (HDI) is the new measure of development recognized in 1990s. It is said: a nations ability
to convert knowledge into wealth and social good through the process of innovation is going to determine its future. If the emphasis earlier was on tangible assets as the index of wealth, there is now a paradigm shift towards emphasis on intangible intellectual assets. That is why the 21st Century is considered to be the century of knowledge. Economics of knowledge is the scientific study of improving governance through human development and, therefore, it assumes great significance. Today, knowledge has come to be identified not only as a significant form of wealth but also as power. Acquiring knowledge and using its profitably to convert it into wealth and social good has to be the goal. Human development linked with human rights to achieve this end must be the aim. Human rights have to be understood and appreciated in this manner. Education is the most effective tool for empowerment and human development. Human rights education must include also the component of obligations towards others. Mahatma Gandhi, in a letter to Julien Huxley in 1947, had said:
I learned from my illiterate but wise mother that all rights to be deserved and preserved come from duty well done. Thus, the very right to live accrues to us when we do the duty of citizenship of the world. From this one fundamental statement, perhaps it is easy enough to define duties of man and woman and correlate every right to some corresponding duty to be first performed
This concept is reflected in Article 51A of the Constitution of India which enumerates the fundamental duties of every citizen and is required to be read along with the fundamental rights guaranteed in Part III thereof. This concept is gaining international recognition in as much as a draft Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities (1997) on similar lines has been prepared for adoption by the General Assembly of the United Nations as complementary to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Right to education itself must be a basic human right. In India, the promise in Article 45 of the Constitution of free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of 14 years as a directive principle remains a mirage and only now the process has begun to convert it into a fundamental right. Illiteracy, described as one of the
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unfreedoms by Amartya Sen, being a primary cause of lack of empowerment, due emphasis on education has to be given to produce the knowledge makers in the century of knowledge. With recognition of the Human Development Index (HDI) as a new measure of development, the Human Development Reports in the last decade have analyzed and focused on new vistas of human rights while integrating human rights with human development as a true measure of progress. The 1995 Human Development Report points out the four essential components of human development paradigm, namely, Productivity economic growth with peoples participation in income generation; Equity peoples access to equal opportunities; Sustainability access to opportunities must be not only for the present generations but also for future generations to all forms of capital i.e. physical, human, environmental; and Empowerment opportunity with developed capabilities of all people to participate in policy and decision making processes that shape and affect their lives. The wide global disparities in different parts of the world are shown to be linked with varying levels of human development. A birds eye view of some glaring disparities prevailing in different parts of the world and those which are gender related indicate the areas where greater emphasis is needed for uniform human development. In his report to the Millennium Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Secretary-General Kofi Annan asked to consider the nature of the global village: For every 1000 inhabitants of the globe, only 150 live in the affluent areas; 780 live in the poorer areas; while 70 live in areas in transition; 86% of all wealth is enjoyed by just 1/5th of the population; Nearly 500 out of every 1000 persons eke out an existence on just $2 a day; While literacy is increasing, 22% of the global village remains illiterate, of whom 2/3rds are women; 390 out of every 1000 persons are less than 20 years of age and many are desperately seeking jobs; Life expectancy is 78 years for the affluent, 64 years for the poorer, but only 52 years for the poorest;
Poorer areas are afflicted by a far higher incidence of infectious disease, malnutrition, lack of access to safe drinking water, education, housing and employment. The Secretary-General also emphasized the need to eradicate poverty and provide for public health as priority items in the agenda for the new millennium. The greatest challenge to mankind in the 21st Century is poverty, which is also a major impediment to development that is sustainable. South Asia, with its large population and, therefore, greater potential for human development continues to be starved in many ways because of lower human development index which is related to economic growth. Poverty has to be eradicated through the process of human development combined with economic growth. The millennium declaration of the world leaders has committed to achieve certain targets by the year 2015 which include reduction of poverty by half, improvement in health care, arresting the spread of HIV/AIDS and then reducing the number of infections. The need is to fulfill this promise. This is the human rights agenda to be met.