‘Stumbling zombie-like into a digital welfare dystopia’: Are world governments capable of putting digital technology at the service of equality, non-discrimination, and social and economic rights?

by Marc Limon, Executive Director of the Universal Rights Group Blog, Blog, Contemporary and emerging human rights issues, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, SDGs, Social rights, Thematic human rights issues

The Human Rights Council and the wider UN human rights system have regularly considered the human rights implications of new technologies (e.g. resolution 20/08 on the ‘Promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet’). Over recent years, that interest has intensified . The most recent Council text on the subject – resolution 41/11 on ‘New and emerging digital technologies and human rights,’ adopted …

UK education scandal has made explicit what has long been implicit: children’s equal right to a quality education is systematically violated in the UK

by Marc Limon, Executive Director of the Universal Rights Group Blog, Blog, Social rights, Thematic human rights issues

One of the most entertaining exposés of the recent scandal in the UK around A-Level (for 18 year olds) and GCSE results (for 16 year olds), and in particular the automatic, computer-generated (via an algorithm) downgrading of kids from State schools in poorer parts of the country, was undoubtedly provided by James O’Brien of LBC radio. Speaking on 14 August, he explained …

Inequality a prominent concern for UN human rights monitors

by Steven L. B. Jensen, Senior Researcher at the Danish Institute for Human Rights Blog, Blog, By invitation, By invitation, Human rights implementation and impact, Implementation, Inequality, Social rights, Thematic human rights issues

UN human rights bodies are highlighting inequality when making recommendations to states – showing that this issue should be seen and acted on as a central human rights concern. Do human rights have anything to say about material inequality? The question is worth asking, especially in light of recent critiques. In his 2018 book Not Enough – Human Rights in an Unequal World, historian Samuel Moyn argued that “… …

Desigualdad es una preocupación importante para los observadores de derechos humanos de la ONU

by Steven L. B. Jensen, Senior Researcher at the Danish Institute for Human Rights Blog, Blog, By invitation, By invitation, Human rights implementation and impact, Implementation, Inequality, Social rights, Thematic human rights issues

Los organismos de derechos humanos de la ONU están enfatizando la desigualdad al hacer recomendaciones a los Estados, mostrando que la consideración y acción sobre el tema debe ser una preocupación central de los derechos humanos. ¿Los derechos humanos tienen algo que decir sobre la desigualdad material? Vale la pena hacer la pregunta, especialmente a la luz de críticas recientes. …