AWARENESS: World Day of Social Justice [20 February]
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Today, we observe the UN World Day of Social Justice!
It was observed following the Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 26 November 2007, in which the General Assembly recognized the following key points related to social justice:
Social development and social justice are indispensable for the achievement and maintenance of peace and security within and among nations and that, in turn, social development and social justice cannot be attained in the absence of peace and security or in the absence of respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms;
Broad-based and sustained economic growth in the context of sustainable development is necessary to sustain social development and social justice;
Globalization and interdependence are opening new opportunities through trade, investment and capital flows and advances in technology, including information technology, for the growth of the world economy and the development and improvement of living standards around the world, while at the same time there remain serious challenges, including serious financial crises, insecurity, poverty, exclusion and inequality within and among societies and considerable obstacles to further integration and full participation in the global economy for developing countries as well as some countries with economies in transition;
There is a need to consolidate further the efforts of the international community in poverty eradication and in promoting full employment and decent work, gender equality and access to social well-being and justice for all.
In CSDS, Human Rights, Human Security, and Justice is one of our working themes. Our most recent project in this theme is Flooding disaster, people’s displacement and state response in Hat Yai, where we examine through a human rights lens whether the 'Hat Yai model' offers new insights and strategies. Last year, on 29 November 2018, we also hosted a workshop to discuss about disaster and displacement in Asia Pacific. The discussion is part of a ten-country study on a range of types of disaster and displacement scenarios understood through a human rights perspective. The overall study examines how state actors fulfill their obligations to prevent displacement, conduct evacuation, protect people during displacement, and facilitate durable solutions in the aftermath. The insights from the workshop can be read in our report: Disaster and Displacement - A Human Rights Perspective.
Other recent publications that focus on social justice include:
The Public Regime for Migrant Child Education in Thailand: Alternative Depictions of Policy, which analyzes the conceptualization and depiction of Thailand’s public policy on education for the children of migrant workers in the country.
National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs), Extraterritorial Obligations (ETOs) and Hydropower in Southeast Asia, which examines the role of NHRIs and transnational civil society in pursing ETO cases in Southeast Asia as a means to investigate human rights threatened by cross-border investment projects
For more information about the World Day of Social Justice and additional downloadable resources, please visit the official United Nations website.