Category: Social Structures

ALL’s Contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Social Structures

Authors: Kimberly Wright, Postgraduate LLM student Global Legal Studies & Anastasia Campbell, Administrative Lead, ALL Institute

Black and White Picture showing young girl in front of a gate holding a sign saying 'Justice for______________x I left blank because I'll probably need this sign again next year."
Photo by Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona on Unsplash

On the 20th of February, the United Nations World Day of Social Justice gives the world an opportunity to celebrate peace, social inclusion, and respect for human rights. Those values are at the core of the United Nations (UN) action, and, in particular, of the Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), which were adopted by all UN Member States in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. The UN SDGs consist of a total of 17 universal goals adopted by all 193 UN member states aimed at improving and ensuring a sustainable future for all. These goals include poverty, inequality, climate change, peace and justice among various other causes for concern. The Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute’s mission is to ensure that all people around the world, particularly those who have been subject to marginalisation, achieve a good quality of life and full participation in society through the use of appropriate technologies and evidence-based policies and laws. Our research is dedicated to promoting human rights-based and person-centred systems to empower people and enhance social inclusion and involvement.

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International Holocaust Remembrance Day: An occasion to look at the international prohibition of genocide

Social Structures

Author: Niccolò Zugliani, Doctoral Candidate at the Law Department of the University of Verona (Italy)

Picture used on the United NAtions Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) webpage https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/holocaustremembranceday
https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/holocaustremembranceday
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The International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust is a yearly reminder of the atrocities perpetrated by the Nazi regime during World War II. It is also an occasion to pay heed to the existence, even at present times, of potential cases of genocide, despite the international commitments to prevent it and to punish its perpetrators. As such, it offers the opportunity to reflect on the hurdles faced by international criminal justice when confronted with this international crime, and on some avenues recently pursued to avoid impunity.

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The World Braille Day: Celebrating the Importance of Braille for the Full Realization of Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Audio Version

The World Braille Day: Celebrating the Importance of Braille for the Full Realization of Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities – in Maynooth University, Ireland.
Voiced by Hilary Hooks.

The World Braille Day: Celebrating the Importance of Braille for the Full Realization of Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Social Structures

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Author: Silvia Favalli, Post-doctoral research fellow in International law – University of Pavia (Italy)

Two hands reading a braille script.
Stock image from: https://www.awarenessdays.com/awareness-days-calendar/world-braille-day-2021/

Since 2019, World Braille Day celebrates the significance of Braille as a means of communication and a gateway to realize human rights of persons who are blind or partially sighted. This day commemorates the birthday of its inventor, Louis Braille, born in France in 1809.

Braille is a tactile writing and reading system and consists of the representation of alphabetic and numerical symbols using six dots. The dot patterns are assigned to each letter and number, but they represent musical, mathematical and scientific symbols as well. It also allows users to develop an understanding of the formal structure of language, such as spacing, formatting and grammar.

Braille has been a key tool for persons who are blind or partially sighted to exercise their rights since it was first developed in the XIX century. In particular, Braille is crucial in the context of education, to allow freedom of expression and opinion and, more broadly, to enhance social inclusion, as reflected in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, which focuses on inclusive and equitable quality of education and promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all.

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The Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights: Some Reflections on the 20th Anniversary of the Charter

Social Structures

Author Bio: Neža Šubic, Postdoctoral Researcher, DANCING Project, ALL Institute, Department of Law, Maynooth University

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The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (the Charter) celebrates its 20th anniversary this month. It was proclaimed solemnly by the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on 7 December 2000. Though not formally binding when it was signed, it became legally binding with the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009.

The Charter is the European Union’s bill of rights. It contains a comprehensive set of fundamental rights, ranging from civil and political rights to social and economic rights.

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Happy 72nd Anniversary, UDHR!

Social Structures

Author: Irene Spigno, General Director of the Inter-American Academy of Human Rights-Autonomous University of Coahuila

On December 10, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations, with Resolution 217 A (III), proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

The Declaration is a landmark document in the history of human rights: for the first time, fundamental human rights were enshrined in a written document.

Drawn up by representatives of all regions of the world with different legal and cultural backgrounds, the Declaration was proclaimed as a common ideal for all peoples and nations.

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Commemorating Human Rights Day

Social Structures

Author: Dr Laura Serra. Postdoctoral researcher reCreating Europe. All Institute. Department of Law, Maynooth University

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Today, 10th of December, we are commemorating the day in which the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. Today is Human Rights Day!

Human Rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated. Yet, in the twenty-first century, billions of people around the world remain on the margins of society, facing multiple Human Rights violations. For this reason, it is essential not only to commemorate the 10th of December but also to remind us how much remains to be done.

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Commemorating the International Day of Persons with Disabilities

Social Structures

Author Ana Maria Sanchez Rodriguez – ALL Institute member, Irish Research Council and a Marie Skłodowska- Curie Actions’ fellow at Maynooth University

The author is grateful for the insights provided by Marité Fernández.

On the 3rd of December we celebrate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The United Nations proclaimed this day in 1992 and this year the theme is: “Building Back Better: toward a disability-inclusive, accessible and sustainable post COVID-19 World”.

While this is a day to observe and to commemorate, there is not much to celebrate. In the past few days, the international community, United Nation agencies, intergovernmental organizations and international organizations have organized virtual conferences to address what the main challenges are in order to realize the rights of persons with disabilities recognized in the United Nations Convention on the Rights Persons of Disabilities and other regional human rights treaties.

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European Union Disability Policies after 2020: Back to the Future

Social Structures

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Author: Delia Ferri – Co-Director of the ALL Institute, Department of Law, Maynooth University

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At the end of this year, the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 (EDS), which has shaped European Union (EU) disability policies for the last decade, is coming to an end. The 3rd of December 2020, which marks the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, seems the most apt time to reflect on what EU policies have achieved, but also to look ahead to the forthcoming Strategy 2021-2030.

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