Human Rights: Global Policy and Practice (LAWS90175)

The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights has been heralded as a common ethical standard of humanity and helped spawn a global human rights movement. But what impacts have international human rights law, institutions and actors had in practice? Human rights violations are not always the product of a linear relationship between oppressor and victim, but are rooted in a complex structure of power relations in the political, economic and social spheres. This is particularly the case for socio-economic rights which, compared with civil and political rights, continue to be neglected in practice. How adaptable, and how successful, has the global human rights movement been in challenging underlying structures of exclusion and oppression, changing the behaviour of influential economic institutions, and addressing existential threats like climate change? How can positive change be achieved in practice, and what expectations can reasonably be placed upon human rights law, institutions and actors in this regard?

This subject applies an inter-disciplinary approach to the examination of these questions, linking theoretical debates to analyses of practical implementation challenges. Special attention is given to the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, given the high expectations and stakes attached to it and the significant engagement so far by the human rights movement, and to normative and human rights policy frameworks and strategies of engagement with business enterprises and international financial institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Dr Darrow is the Representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Washington DC. He led OHCHR’s research and advocacy in connection with the 2030 Development Agenda and is currently responsible for the Office’s partnerships and policy engagement with international financial institutions globally. He has worked in private legal practice, academia, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and in the Human Rights Branch of the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department, and has consulted for a range of international organisations including the World Bank and UNICEF. He has published extensively in the fields of international human rights law, anti-discrimination, development, and international organisations.

Principal topics will include:

• Evolution and critical appraisal of the international human rights legal regime;
• History, political context, competing ideological frames and human rights implications of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda;
• Human rights impacts and legal and policy implications of climate change;
• Human rights obligations of international financial institutions;
• Human rights impacts and responsibilities of corporations;
• Human rights impacts of mega-infrastructure investment agendas: G20 and China’s Belt and Road Initiative;
• Critical appraisal of human rights influencing strategies: Human rights mainstreaming, rights-based approaches, and accountability mechanisms.