Universal Declaration of Human Rights Essay

Submitted By nicoleloosig
Words: 1237
Pages: 5

The Ineffectiveness of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Prior to World War II inequality throughout the world was an apparent problem, so in order to fix it, the United Nations created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In January 1946, the first meeting about the document was held, and its first concerns were to figure out how it would be created. Immediate problems arose when different nations wanted people to have different rights, like how communists wanted limited freedom and less circulation of news. The reason this was an issue was because the point of the document was to give people more rights, not take them away. In order to make the Universal Declaration of Human Rights successful it had to satisfy the goals of the East and the West’s opposing ideas (Gold 74-77). The Declaration of Human Rights had the right intentions to make life more equal for all people, but many rights are still ignored, and many cultures seem to go against what the document says. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is not a very effective document, and it is not protecting the rights of all because, different parts of the world believe in different rights, and women are not being granted what they should. First is that the West and East both have different ideas on what rights people should be granted. In the Eastern Hemisphere many Asian countries believe that family security is an important value and traditional roles should be kept. Those people argue that rather than creating one list of rule about what rights people should and should not have, it should be based on the background and culture they believe in. In other cases third-world countries are more interested in taking the time to get out of poverty than they are worried about securing “first-generation” rights to people. For example, child labor is an issue since the children who are working are rarely ever treated fairly like they should be under the protection of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Although this is not seen as humane in Western ideals, the East is having difficulties straying from this because many families need the money and really can’t complain. In Western society someone who disobeys the rights of others is usually punished or looked down upon, so it is hard to grasp the concept that it is difficult to follow all rights (Darraj 98-102).
Next is how secular laws are interfering with the culture and religion of Middle Eastern people. This is especially true in Pakistan, which has had a history of having problems with keeping up with human rights. The mix of traditional Islamic ways and government laws are causing some issues. Although citizens should have the freedoms stated in the document they are not given them because religious and even some political officials believe that these freedoms are less important than strictly following faith. A man by the name of Muhammad Ali Junnah had suggested incorporating both human rights and Islam together, but nothing could be worked out due to the vast amount of conflicting views. The want for rights is present except no one is pushing for them because there are other things Pakistan needs to work on as stated, “Furthermore, courts suffer from lack of funds, outside intervention… Many observers inside and outside Pakistan contend that Pakistan’s legal code is largely concerned with crime… and less with the protection of individual rights.” Like what was discussed earlier other problems must addressed before rights can be fully protected, and in this case finding the balance of Islam and secular views. It is certainly trying to be achieved, and throughout the past few years things have gotten much better (Saleem 1-2).
Asylum seekers are looking for a place that they can go to and live as refugees. Most of these are women and children and they are constantly getting their rights refused, and when trying to find a place to escape to most countries will not let them come onto their