THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF EMERGING HUMAN RIGHTS

The Universal Declaration of Emerging Human Rights (UDEHR) is a programmatic instrument of international civil society aimed at state actors and other institutional forums for the crystallisation of human rights in the new millennium.

The UDEHR arose from a discussion process which had its roots in a dialogue organised by the IHRC as part of the Universal Forum of Cultures Barcelona 2004, entitled “Human Rights, Emerging Necessities and New Compromises”.

The Declaration’s point of departure is the idea that civil society plays a fundamental role in facing the social, political and technological challenges that contemporary global society presents. For this reason it is provided with the UDEHR, an additional instrument to facilitate the knowledge of, and the debate surrounding, human rights.

The UDEHR is not intended to substitute or question existing national and international instruments of the protection of human rights. It does not attempt to deny nor disqualify the general validity of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Rather, it attempts to update and complement it from a new perspective, that of participatory citizenship.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Structure

Origins: The Barcelona Forum 2004

From Barcelona to Monterrey: From the Charter to the Universal Declaration of Emerging Human Rights

STRUCTURE

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights consists of two distinct parts.

1º General Framework: Values and principles

In the first part the general framework is outlined, explaining the need for the Declaration. An enumeration of the values and principles upon which it is based is also included.

One of the starting principles of the Declaration is that values are not static - different periods in time have different nuances - for this reason it is vital to enumerate and define these values. They are

• dignity,
• life,
• equality,
• solidarity,
• coexistence,
• peace,
• liberty and
• knowledge.

The principles upon which the Declaration is based are also enumerated; they must be understood from a transverse perspective. These principles are

• the principle of human security,
• the principle of non-discrimination,
• the principle of social inclusion,
• the principle of coherence,
• the principle of horizontality,
• the principle of interdependence and multiculturality,
• the principle of political participation,
• the principle of gender,
• the principle of demandability, and
• the principle of common responsibility.

2º Catalogue of rights

The second part of the UDEHR is made up of a catalogue of more than forty emerging human rights, divided into six groups, all with the common theme of democracy.

In these early years of the 21st century there is a clear need to consider our democratic systems in depth with the intention of improving their quality and guaranteeing their precepts. For this reason the second part of the UDEHR is structured by means of the following titles, which illustrate six characteristics that a democratic system must have:

• The right to egalitarian democracy;
• The right to pluralistic democracy;
• The right to paritary democracy;
• The right to participatory democracy;
• The right to solidarity in democracy;
• The right to guarantees in democracy.

ORIGINS: THE BARCELONA FORUM 2004

In 2003 the Institute of Human Rights of Catalonia formed a Scientific Committee made up of prestigious academics, activists, politicians and members of international organisations. The committee spent a year debating and writing up the preliminary projects that served as a basis for the presentation of the provisional texts of the then named “Charter of Emerging Human Rights” (CEHR).

The CEHR project was produced by a Writing Committee with the use of the provisional texts written by the Scientific Committee.

In the framework of the Universal Forum of Cultures Barcelona 2004, the Institute of Human Rights of Catalonia (IHRC), as the organiser of the dialogue “Human Rights, Emerging Necessities and New Compromises”, presented the CEHR project, with the objective of discussing the text and of it being approved in the plenary session of the Dialogue.

The text was discussed over 4 days in 6 different seminars. The ideas and suggestions that arose were incorporated into the text. More than 100 experts took part in the debates, which were attended by more than 1000 people. The Scientific Committee that had written the provisional texts also actively participated in the Dialogue.

The provisional text of the CEHR was approved in the plenary session of the Dialogue. From that moment on there began a period of consultations with civil society, with the objective of discussing and enriching the text with different perspectives in order for it to be approved at the following International Forum of Cultures, which would take place in Monterrey in 2007.

FURTHER INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTS

Scientific Committee: preliminary projects

Writing Committee

Dialogue "Human Rights, Emerging Necessities and New Compromises"

FROM BARCELONA TO MONTERREY: FROM THE CHARTER TO THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF EMERGING HUMAN RIGHTS

At the Forum of Cultures Monterrey 2007, which took place from the 30th of October to the 4th of November, the definitive text of the Universal Declaration of Emerging Human Rights was approved.

In the three years between the Barcelona and Monterrey Forums, the IHRC began a process of promotion of the CEHR and of consultations with civil society. The objective was to involve the directly concerned social, political, cultural and economic agents in the discussion.

The IHRC began to gather support for the text by means of a manifesto.

The IHRC also organised seven participatory seminars on five of the emerging human rights.

•  The right to water and sanitation,

•  The human right to the environment,

•  The rights relating to sexual orientation and gender identity,

•  The rights relating to bioethics and

•  The right to basic income.

The objective of these seminars was to present a series of recognised rights from the CEHR that needed a more in-depth consideration, and to involve organised civil society in the process of writing the CEHR.

The seminars were participatory; they took the form of round table discussions in which the attendants were actively encouraged to participate directly in the discussion with the invited speakers. The conclusions of the seminars and some of the speakers’ presentations have been published by the IHRC. Links to documents on these seminars can be found in the Emerging Human Rights in Depth section.

After three years of consultations and drumming up support for the Charter, at the end of 2007 the IHRC participated in the Forum of Cultures of Monterrey (Mexico), in the dialogue “Governability and participation. Human Rights and justice”.

At the Forum of Monterrey some small but significant changes were made to the CEHR, incorporating the conclusions of the consultations with civil society. The most important was the change of name from the Charter of Emerging Human Rights to the Universal Declaration of Emerging Human Rights.

In Monterrey the definitive text of the Declaration was approved. However, it must be emphasised that the UDEHR is only the point of departure in a wide normative process that has still not been completed. Its value lies in its function as a roadmap for civil society to use in its objective of achieving a more just world with more solidarity.