Much progress has been made in the fight against human trafficking over the past ten years thanks to the implementation of a UN treaty and a comprehensive U.S. law to combat this crime. What actions have states and non-state actors taken against human trafficking so far, and what more should be done in order to help the millions of trafficking victims worldwide?
In November 2010, Burma elected a partially civilian government after fifty years of military rule. The country's ethnically diverse citizenry is rightfully concerned that the Junta will seize power again, as Burma's constitution permits. The international community must work closely with Burma's new government, composed of military personnel and civilian office-holders, to ensure basic rights, fair treatment, and political voice for all of the country's inhabitants.
With increasing country demands but a changing supply of water due to climate change, tensions may increase over international water sources in South Asia and China. The article investigates these trends and discusses the existing and potential treaties and impacts of different scenarios on the region's politics and economics.
Government programs have significantly reduced inequality in Brazil over the past fifteen years. Much work remains, however, to ensure these initiatives remain sustainable.
Deforestation is a complex issue linked not only to economic and social dynamics at both global and local levels but also to questions of power and politics. Nowhere is this more evident than in the ongoing struggle over the Mau Forest in Kenya. This article explores the history of political struggles surrounding the Mau forest and the role that mapping has played in determining the political and ecological landscape of the region.
Leapfrogging allows developing countries to skip many of the steps that developed countries have had to take when making technological advancements. This article examines the processes developing countries have undergone in order to take advantage of leapfrogging and to develop more efficiently.
The Interdependence Movement is devolving. The 2010 Berlin Interdependence Day Forum and Celebration emphasized the increased role of communal action in promotion of global peace, democracy, and justice.
58th President of Colombia and recently named Distinguished Scholar in the Practice of Global Leadership at Georgetown University, Álvaro Uribe Vélez discusses his time in office and the future of Colombia.
State centred discourse on international law and human rights often diminishes the obligations of global health institutions in international law to advance health related human rights and as sites for the progressive development and implementation of health rights. The constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO) provides an expansive role for human rights protection and promotion in realizing public health, but WHO has faced hurdles in effectively carrying out this role. Current scholarship continues to underscore the normative challenges facing WHO concerning its limited use of international law including human rights to promote health. This article goes a step further and explores the evolving international legal and institutional basis for WHO's future direction in strengthening the governance of human rights. It revisits WHO's evolving and expanding human rights mandate, challenges and prospects within WHO law, the broader United Nations law, policy and practice as well as general international law. Despite the limitations, WHO has evolving institutional mechanisms rooted in international law that comprise a pivotal site for human rights normative and operational work at the global, regional and domestic levels. The article examines these mechanisms and suggests concrete ways and options in which WHO can advance health rights.
Topic:
Human Rights, International Law, United Nations, and World Trade Organization