Human Rights Council (HRC)With 47 seats, the Human Rights Council is the UN response to a 21st century that brought new challenges to the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The HRC has the difficult mission to pursue the universal application and implementation of Human Rights in every country of the world.
Topic Overview
Topic A: Free flow of information With the advent of the 21st century, the information age began: the collection, analysis and utilization of information had become the task of an ever growing number of businesses and governments. Information technology advanced to the forefront of technological advancement and the culture of many societies around the world started to evolve around the sharing of information on the Internet. The question now arises whether the flow of information is so vital to human society that its freedom should be considered a basic human right. In its report 17.27, the Human Rights Council declared that disconnecting people from the Internet is a human rights violation and against international law. Can and should this premise be extended? Does humanity have a right to Free Flow of Information? The HRC will be expected to find an answer to this demanding question during the conference.
Topic B: Corporate Labor Abuses Corporate labor abuses are an issue that challenges society today. With the capitalist demand growing and the workforce constantly increasing in size, it has become easier for corporations to exploit workers and abuse the rights that they have. In order to cope with such problems, the United Nations has taken steps to alleviate the situation. One of the most popular being the creation of the United Nations Global Compact, an organization consisting of corporations who use 10 key principles to guarantee that businesses run in a environmentally friendly, ethical way. Despite its creation, support and growing membership, abuse of laborers by companies seems to continue, endangering much of the human population. During the conference, it will be the duty of the HRC to come up with viable solutions to this pressing issue.