New book on Human Rights published

AJR’s Chief Executive, Michael Newman, is on the editorial board of a new book recently published to mark the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Entitled “Contemporary Human Rights Challenges: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its Continuing Relevance”, this publication is an edited collection of new essays by leading international human rights experts including President Jimmy Carter, UNESCO Secretary General Audrey Azoulay and the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.

Michael said: “It was a personal privilege to be part of the group that has produced this timely addition to an evaluation of human rights published in honour of former AJR member Clemens Nathan.”

It is a contemporary and clear sighted contribution to our understanding of both the evolution of the Universal Declaration and its continuing relevance to the world today. This is a stimulating and accessible read, with real world examples for anyone involved in thinking about, designing or applying public policy, particularly government officials, politicians, lawyers, journalists and academics and those engaged in promoting social justice.

Reflecting the structure of the UDHR, the chapters, written by 28 academics, practitioners and activists, bring a contemporary perspective to the original principles proclaimed in the Declaration’s 30 Articles. Examined through these universal principles, which have enduring relevance, the authors grapple with some of today’s most pressing challenges, some of which, for example the rights to privacy in a digital age and the rights of the LGBTQ community, would not have been foreseen by the original drafters of the Declaration, who included Eleanor Roosevelt, René Cassin and John Humphrey.

The essays cover a wide range of topics such as freedom to practise one’s religion and the right to redress, and make a compelling and detailed argument for the ongoing importance and significance of the Declaration and human rights in our rapidly changing world. As President Jimmy Carter implores in the concluding chapter, “we must accommodate changing times, but cling to principles that never change…If we are to revitalise a global human rights movement, we must work to strengthen our societies’ commitments to peace and human rights so that future generations inherit a less violent and more just world.”

As written in the introduction to the book, “The Declaration epitomised the aspirations of the immediate post-war period and seized upon the collective desire to chart a new path based on universal respect for common values and recognition of the inherent dignity of the individual.”

The 238-page book published by Routledge is dedicated to the memory of Clemens N Nathan, a philanthropist, campaigner and activist, for whom human rights were at the core of his concerns. It offers original and illuminating essays by some of the world’s leading authorities on the major and persistent human rights challenges across the whole scope of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The challenges for human rights today are wide ranging, complex and often urgent. This volume addresses this complexity and urgency by assembling a diverse and expert group of writers across many areas of the human rights sector including military ethics and conflict
resolution, gender equality, the right to redress and data privacy and protection.

Contributors: Lord John Alderdice, Audrey Azoulay, Michael Bazyler, President Jimmy Carter, Giovanni Boccardi, Danwood Chirwa, Mike Dottridge, Leonie Evers, Carla Ferstman, Alex Goldberg, Charles Hamilton, Rebecca Hilsenrath, Francesca Klug, Rashida Manjoo, Kristen Nelson, Bertrand Ramcharan, Eva Sobotka, Rodrigo Uprimny, Laura Van Waas, George Wilkes, Lord Rowan Williams, Lorna Woods and Lord Harry Woolf.

The Editorial Board consisted of Dr Carla Ferstman, University of Essex; Alex Goldberg, Jewish Chaplain, London Jewish Forum; Dr Tony Gray, Director of Words by Design; Dr Liz Ison and Richard Nathan, family members; and, as previously mentioned, Michael Newman, Chief Executive of The Association of Jewish Refugees.