Vienna Declaration Research Articles

Supervised consumption rooms: The French Paradox

Although injecting drug use was identified as a political problem n France after the student revolt of May 1968, the implementation f two related public health measures – the liberalization of syringe ales in 1987 followed by access to opioid substitution treatment n 1996 – only occurred with the advent of AIDS (Jauffret-Roustide, 009). In 2006, when risk reduction was formally recognized in rance in public health law, both these measures were included in fficial policy. In France, where legislation is still repressive (drug se is punishable by law), this harm reduction policy is frequently ontested by parliamentarians who perceive it as a form of pro-drug se proselytism. Currently, the number of people injecting drugs in rance is estimated to be 80,000. This group is characterized by a igh level of financial and social instability, a situation which often eaves them with no choice but to inject in public places. In terms f public health, the prevalence of Hepatitis C among drug users is igh (60% of users according to available data) as is the prevalence f health risk practices associated with injection (Jauffret-Roustide t al., 2009). In recent years the health problems associated with injectng drugs in public places have led professionals and scientists o call for a change in French risk reduction policy. They believe hat policy should no longer be based on issues of morality nd ideology but on international scientific evidence. This is in eeping with the Vienna Declaration which urges that risk reducion policies be based on evidence-based medicine (Wood et al., 010). In this context, the Ministry of Health commissioned a group f scientific experts in 2010 to examine the feasibility of experienting with supervised consumption rooms in France. Following nitial investigations, focusing particularly on experiences of other ountries (approximately 100 consumption rooms have been stablished worldwide since the 1980s), this group determined that uch experimentation was appropriate and relevant (Bello et al., 010). This scientific announcement was followed by a great deal f media coverage, taking the debate into the public arena for the

Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action: 20 Years Later

Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action: 20 Years Later

Can Islam and "Islamization" Be a Force for Refugee Rights in Malaysia?

Malaysia has ratified neither the 1951 Refugee Convention nor the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. Accordingly, refugees in Malaysia are not accorded legal status and, like other irregular migrants, face arrest, detention, and basic human rights violations on a daily basis. This Article argues that invoking the importance of asylum in Islam (Malaysia’s “official religion” according to the Federal Constitution) will provoke moral sensibilities and inspire legal reform of Malaysia’s refugee rights protection framework, given the aggrandized role of Islam in Malaysian politics and public law, which now extends beyond the syariah (Islamic law) jurisdiction. This Article then considers whether the court is the most appropriate forum for such advocacy: it proposes a constitutional litigation strategy, analyzes Malaysia’s constitutional jurisprudence, and examines the larger implications of this litigation strategy in Malaysian society, especially regarding the religious freedom of Muslims who seek to renounce their Islamic faith. More broadly, this Malaysian case study supports a religious, rather than a secular model of human rights, and demonstrates why and when religion can be a force for, rather than an obstacle to, human rights. It also challenges the Vienna Declaration’s claims that human rights are inalienable, universal, indivisible and inter-related.

The Human Right to Development and the Environmental Justice: An Aspect of Environmental Law

The Objective of this study is to examine the international legal regime on the right to development as a human right and its implication for environmental justice in the context of Environmental Law. This study involves an examination of the relevant international Declarations and Conventions.Law is a regulation of human conduct so the Professors of Jurisprudence say in the broad sense. Environmental law in particular is an instrument containing a body of rules to protect and improve environment and control or prevent any act or omission causing environmental destruction and conservation of natural resources. Today the protection of environment is a global issue which concerns all countries irrespective of their size, level of development or ideology. It refers to the principle of sustainable development accepted as a key element in the reconciliation between the values of environment and needs of development in modern times.The idea of integrated human rights as an international concern was first declared in the Charter of the United Nations in 1945 and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 and later in subsequent international instruments. Accordingly, unity of all rights- civil and political rights as well as economic, social and cultural rights were recognized. In 1986 UN General Assembly adopted Declaration on the Right to Devel opment which marks the culmination of a long process of international campaigning for right to development which was endorsed by the UN Vienna Declaration in 1993 and the subsequent international instruments. The Declaration on the Right to Development elaborates the point that the approach to development under the Declaration is substan tially different from the usual approach to economic development pre-occupied with the growth of output of material product and marketable services. The right to development refers to a process of development which leads to the realization of human rights and of all of them together and which has to be carried out in a manner known as rights- based, in accordance with the international human rights standards, as a participatory, non discriminatory, accountable and transparent process with equity in decision making and the sharing of fruits of the process. According to the Declaration, the right to develop ment is a right of human beings but with concomitant individual and collective obliga tions. The States are also charged with the responsibility for the creation of national and international conditions favourable to the realization of the right to development.However, during the past decades, the right to development has been transformed to a multi- dimensional human right aimed at contributing to the protection of economic, social and cultural rights as well as civil and political rights. Right to development is recognized as a comprehensive economic, social and political process which pursues constant improvement of the well being of human beings. However, the right to develop ment should be fulfilled so as to equitably meet the social, developmental and environ mental needs of the present and future generations. Thus, the time has come to think of a right to sustainable development, the expression explicitly referred to in the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, in order to reconcile to debate on the right to environment and the right to development in an effort towards environmental justice.

Evidence-based Drug Policy Needs Evidence

Letter to the Editor: Scientists, MDs critical in fight for evidence-based drug policy / The Vienna Declaration: PDF Only

Vienna Declaration: a call for evidence-based drug policies

Vienna Declaration: a call for evidence-based drug policies

Sexual Health and The Vienna Declaration: Portal to Men's Health

Two hundred and thirty six million men reside in the European Union and EFTA countries. Because men tend not to relate to health matters in the same way as women, millions of them remain undiagnosed or access healthcare at an advanced disease stage. Death rates for men under the age of 65 are dramatically and consistently higher than for women across most health conditions. Poor health and premature death in men also adversely impacts on the health of women and children, working careers, and on the wealth of society as a whole. In the 21st Century, the highest male life expectancy in many European countries does not reach its shortest female equivalent. If nothing is done, the average age at which a man will die in 2020 will only reach that of women in the 1980's. The male reproductive system and male sexuality both have the potential to create many problems for men throughout their lives. But on the other hand newest studies support that erectile dysfunction, hypogonadism and premature ejaculation could serve as the long searched for “PORTAL TO MEN'S HEALTH”. We call according to the “Vienna Declaration” for the following to be implemented as a matter of urgency, in Men's Health in general and Men's Sexual Health in specific: • Recognise Men's Health as a distinct and important issue • Gain understanding in to male attitudes to Health and Sexual Health • Invest in innovative ‘Male Sensitive’ approaches to providing healthcare to men

A Woman's Right to Decide? The United Nations Human Rights Committee, Human Rights of Women, and Matters of Human Reproduction

Although the international human rights system of the United Nations builds on the idea of equality in dignity and human rights of all human beings, critique has been heard that the system is andocentric and mainly protects these rights for men. If this is true, it indicates that the system may not address concerns related to the process of human reproduction, concerns that highly influence the enjoyment of human rights by women. The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action called upon the monitoring bodies of the international human rights treaties to include human rights of women in their deliberations and findings. This article explores whether the Human Rights Committee includes human rights related to reproductive concerns of women in its work. It argues that although the Human Rights Committee pays some attention to reproductive issues that affect women, it does not often acknowledge individual rights in this respect and as such does not fully promote and protect their dignity and human rights in this field.

FEND and IDF Europe welcome the ‘Vienna Declaration on Diabetes’

FEND and IDF Europe welcome the ‘Vienna Declaration on Diabetes’

Some Useful Sources

There is fundamental recognition that the human rights of women are ‘an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights’ (Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, para. 18). Violence creates tremendous obstacles to the achievement of rights for women and nation states are obligated to exercise due diligence in the eradication of violence against women and to prevent violence against women wherever it occurs. The following list identifies key documents and resources available at International, European and UK levels. The list includes references to website gateways, documents, campaigns, organisations and publications. The websites provide free access to a wide body of literature and all sites were visited on 11 July 2005 to check that they were current. The list is not comprehensive but is indicative of key materials and services that are easily accessible.

Soziale und kulturelle Dimensionen einer nachhaltigen Waldwirtschaft: Neue Chancen für die Forstgeschichte in Europa? | Social and cultural aspects of sustainable forest management: a chance for forest history in Europe?

Forests and other wooded land cover about 1000 million ha in Europe and thus represent a very characteristic element of the natural landscape. Multi-disciplinary research into the role of the social and cultural aspects of sustainable forest management is growing in importance, in particular with regard to the overall goal of sustainable development and the role of traditional forest-related knowledge. The need for such research was manifested in April 2003 by the adoption of the Vienna Declaration and Vienna Resolutions at the Fourth Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe. There is therefore a need to provide society with historical information on a host of issues surrounding the forest, such as land use,changing social perceptions of and attitudes to woodlands and forests, wood culture, traditional woodland pasture and management,and historical experiences with woodland conservation and restoration. Forest historians can make a significant contribution to the on-going discussion in Europe with the results of scientific findings and empirical insights.

The Role of Nucleo de Estudos da Violencia in the Struggle for Universal Access to Human Rights in Brazil

he Center for the Study of Violence, or Nuicleo de Estudos da Violencia (NEV), was conceived in 1987 as an interdisciplinary academic center dedicated to studying the persistence of human rights violations and resistance to the rule of law during Brazil's transition from military rule to democracy. Fifteen years later, the main theoretical challenge in NEV's work remains the persistence of human rights violations-in particular, such gross violations as those that inhibit the right to life and to physical integrityand their impact on establishing a democratic society in Brazil. At first, NEV's work concentrated mainly on the right to life, particularly the right to physical integrity and protection against abuses by the state. After 1993, and as a result of the Vienna Declaration and Program Of Action (the final document issued by the World Conference on Human Rights) NEV's work expanded to include the full spectrum of rights, encompassing economic and social rights as well

Recent and future activities of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs

This article discusses the development, and the current and future work, of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs. The Office is active both as a source of information, education and training on space and as a secretariat to COPUOS and its Subcommittees; it also performs a role in the monitoring and implementation of various space-related legal treaties. Presently—and as part of the drive to use space to improve life on Earth—the bulk of its work is guided by the Vienna Declaration produced at UNISPACE III.

Human Rights, Democracy, and Development

In the past decade, development, democracy, and human rights have become hegemonic political ideals. Regimes that do not at least claim to pursue rapid and sustained economic growth (development), popular political participation (democracy), and respect for the rights of their citizens (human rights)' place their national and international legitimacy at risk.2 Without denying important practical and theoretical linkages, this article focuses on tensions between the logics of human rights, democracy, and development. In doing so, this article challenges the comfortable contemporary assumption that, as the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (adopted by the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights) put it,

The Highest Priority: Making Use of UN Conference Documents to Remind Governments of Their Commitments to HIV/AIDS

This compilation aims to gather explicit references to HIV/AIDS made in UN conference documents. The following documents were generated: World Summit for Children (1990); World Conference on Human Rights Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (1993); International Conference on Population and Development (1994); World Summit for Social Development (1994); The Fourth World Conference on Women: Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995); and World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (1996). The text provides both the statements of the problem and the objectives in order to provide context but the focus is on commitments explicitly concerning HIV/AIDS. History has shown that much of the response to HIV/AIDS has occurred when there is a synergy between public pressure and government action. In this respect the commitment made by governments in the international scene may be a powerful tool to evolve national policies towards a global response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Monitoring the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: The Challenge of Information Management

Monitoring the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: The Challenge of Information Management Cynthia Price Cohen (bio), Stuart N. Hart (bio), and Susan M. Kosloske* (bio) I. Background The 1993 World Conference on Human Rights concluded with the adoption of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (Declaration). 1 The Declaration, which called for a number of initiatives to be undertaken in support of human rights, contains a separate subsection devoted to the rights of the child. 2 The first paragraph restates the child’s right to “survival, protection, development and participation.” 3 The second paragraph begins with the assertion: “Measures should be taken to achieve universal ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by 1995.” 4 The Convention came amazingly close to achieving that goal. [End Page 439] As of 1 December 1994, there were 182 states parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 5 far more than any other UN human rights treaty. Considering that the Convention is one of the most recently adopted of these treaties, it is somewhat surprising that this new instrument has surpassed so completely the other treaties in numbers of states parties. Equally surprising is the fact that this overwhelming world approval and adoption of the Convention’s standards has taken place in what is actually a very short period of time. When drafting of the Convention on the Rights of the Child began in 1979, no one, including those who had proposed a children’s rights treaty as part of the 1979 International Year of the Child, 6 could have predicted the enthusiasm with which the world community would embrace the Convention. 7 Once the Convention was adopted by the General Assembly, interest in the Convention—which had been slow to develop—began to gain momentum. The Convention’s treaty-signing ceremony in January 1990 broke UN records for numbers of nations taking part in such an event. The Convention also set a record when it entered into force on 25 September 1990, just over six months after its signing ceremony. 8 This was nearly a month before the World Summit for Children was held in New York (Summit). 9 Interestingly, the Summit originally had been planned as an effort [End Page 440] to keep children’s rights on the international agenda because no one had anticipated that this would happen spontaneously. Although children’s advocates view this broad endorsement of the Convention as a major step forward in the recognition of children’s rights, it is not without its complications. World support for the Convention will not be meaningful unless compliance with the Convention’s standards can be adequately monitored. Effective monitoring demands careful information management. As will be explained below, both the comprehensiveness of the Convention and the number of nations that have become states parties make this a formidable task. Supporters of children’s rights, buoyed by international cooperation, are currently taking steps to assist the Committee on the Rights of the Child (Committee) in coping with enormous amounts of information which are a necessary component of the monitoring process. Described below are the Convention’s monitoring mechanism, the Committee’s reviewing processes, monitoring difficulties encountered by the Committee, measures being devised by various groups to assist the Committee in ameliorating these difficulties, and recommendations for a program of information management which can coordinate and maximize these efforts. II. Monitoring Mechanism of the Convention on the Rights of the Child The monitoring mechanism of the Convention on the Rights of the Child can be found in Articles 43–45. Basically, the Convention follows the standard UN human rights treaty practice of requiring states parties to submit to a committee of experts periodic reports outlining the progress that the nation has made toward implementation of the Convention. Article 43 calls for the establishment of a Committee on the Rights of the Child, which is to be made up of ten experts “of high moral standing and recognized competence in the field.” 10 Article 44 requires each state party to submit its initial report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child two years after the Convention goes into force for...

The Protection of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights within the UN Framework

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948, is the first UN human rights document to include civil and political rights as well as economic, social and cultural rights. However, since that time a dichotomy between civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights has characterized UN human rights activities. In 1966 the General Assembly adopted two separate human rights documents: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Two separate covenants were drafted as a result of western pressure. Western countries stressed the alleged difference in character of both categories of rights: civil and political rights could be implemented immediately while most economic, social and cultural rights could be implemented only progressively. In the Vienna Declaration, adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights in 1993, the principle of the equality of all rights was, however, forcefully emphasized.

Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action

VRÜ Verfassung und Recht in Übersee , Seite 129 - 154

Women’s Human Rights and the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights

The June 1993 World Conference on Human Rights witnessed the extraordinary success of efforts by women’s rights activists worldwide to end the historic disregard of human rights violations against women. Indeed, women’s human rights was perhaps the only area in which the World Conference can be said to have met the challenge of defining a forward-looking agenda twenty-five years after the last world conference on human rights. The conference significantly expanded the international human rights agenda to include gender-specific violations. The final conference document, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, identifies particular examples of gender-specific abuses as human rights violations and calls for integration of women’s human rights throughout United Nations activities. Most strikingly, the conference crystallized a political consensus that various forms of violence against women should be examined within the context of human rights standards and in conjunction with gender discrimination. This Note reviews the treatment of women’s human rights in the Declaration and Programme of Action and related developments in the preparatory process for the World Conference.

United Nations World Conference on Human Rights: Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action

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