YPP Political Affairs and Human Rights

With hundreds of references to the jurisprudence of United Nations human rights mechanisms, this handbook provides human rights and electoral practitioners with a clear picture of the close interplay between elections and international human rights law. The handbook discusses international human rights standards regarding electoral processes and political participation, and how these standards apply to specific aspects of elections. Current issues such as gender-based violence in politics, disinformation and data manipulation, and the impact of Internet shutdowns are considered in the light of international human rights law and the recommendations of United Nations experts.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is the first international agreement setting out freedoms, rights and entitlements for all humanity to claim. It emphasizes the inextricable relationship between fundamental freedoms and social justice, and their connection with peace and security. The General Assembly of the United Nations proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping the UDHR constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction. This edition presents the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in all six official United Nations languages.

On the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations, the world has faced its biggest shared test since the Second World War in the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Yet while our welfare, and indeed the permanence of human life, depend on us working together, international cooperation has never been harder to achieve. This report answers a call from UN Member States to provide recommendations to advance our common agenda and to respond to current and future challenges. Its proposals are grounded in a renewal of the social contract, adapted to the challenges of this century, taking into account younger and future generations, complemented by a new global deal to better protect the global commons and deliver global public goods. Through a deepening of solidarity—at the national level, between generations, and in the multilateral system—Our Common Agenda provides a path forward to a greener, safer and better future.