Learning Targets 1 & 2

Question 1

What is a human right?

Answer 1

Rights that all people have simply on the basis of their humanity

Question 2

What does someone who is relative / culturally relative believe about human rights?

Answer 2

Traditional cultural values come before the human rights and they determine the extent to which certain rights are followed

Question 3

What does someone who is a “universalist” believe about human rights?

Answer 3

Everyone should have the same human rights, regardless of their culture or history

Question 4

What is the UDHR?

Answer 4

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Question 5

When was the UDHR written? Why then?

Answer 5

1948, after the Holocaust and WWII. People were determined not to let something like those events happen again

Question 6

What is the main idea of the UDHR?

Answer 6

ALL human beings are entitled to specific rights just for being a human.

Question 7

What are some criticisms of the UDHR?

Answer 7

• It is hard to enforce because it isn’t a legally binding document
• It does not take into account different cultural practices
• Not all rights are seen as universal

Question 8

How effective is the UDHR at protecting and promoting human rights? Think of limits of the United Nations.

Answer 8

The UDHR is not a universal document and is not acknowledged by some governments. It is often ineffective at protecting or promoting human rights because of the lack of “universal” thought towards what constitutes a human right. Additionally, the UDHR cannot be enforced because the United Nations does not control its own branch of military to carry out the articles highlighted in the document.