Human rights, prevention of conflict or crisis and building resilience

Perhaps the best prevention tool we have is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – and the treaties derived from it. The rights set out in it identify many of the root causes of conflict, but equally they provide real world solutions through real change on the ground.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Human Rights Council, 27 February 2017

Whilst the primary focus of the United Nations human rights system, including OHCHR is preventing human rights violations, human rights are also a key part of the United Nations efforts to prevent conflict and crisis. Indeed, the human rights system was created, after the Second World War to help prevent future conflicts: the Universal Declaration affirms that “it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law”. The link between the United Nations’ work on peace and security and its work on human rights is long-standing.

Human rights violations are often the root causes of conflict and insecurity which, in turn, invariably result in further violations of human rights. As such, action to protect and promote human rights has inherent preventive power, while rights-based approaches to peace and security bring this power to efforts for prevention and sustainable peace. There is clear evidence that countries where all human rights are respected and protected are less prone to conflict or crisis (World Development Report 2011, p. 82) and have increased resilience to withstand unexpected shocks, such as those resulting from pandemics or climate change (Secretary-General’s Policy Brief, p.9). 

The human rights normative framework provides a sound basis for addressing issues of serious concern within or between countries that, if left unaddressed, may lead to conflict. Human rights information and analysis is a tool for early warning and early targeted action that has not yet been used to its full potential. Because of the preventive effect of human rights protection and promotion, efforts to advance rights-based development to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals should also be understood as a part of the United Nations prevention approach. Human rights underpins both sustainable development and sustaining peace.

How human rights help to prevent conflict or crisis

The landmark Pathways for Peace study by the United Nations and the World Bank, published in 2017, found that violent conflict is often caused by factors such as unaddressed grievances, inequalities and exclusion, as well as lack of participation in decision-making that would allow these grievances and inequalities to be addressed. Human rights inherently tackle these issues: OHCHR’s programme, for instance, is built around pillars of accountability (including accountable government), equality and non-discrimination and participation. Human rights help to address many of the grievances which, if left unaddressed, lead to violent conflict.

The United Nations human rights system – the treaties, bodies and mechanisms that have been created over the years to promote human rights – are primarily aimed at addressing or preventing specific violations of human rights. However, the system can also serve to reduce the risk of violence and conflict by ensuring that the drivers and triggers of conflict are tackled early on. Human rights empower people (rights holders) to seek redress for their grievances and constrain those with the power to provide redress (duty bearers) to respond. The mutual relationship between the rights holder and the duty bearer creates a pathway towards peace by incentivizing the peaceful resolution of grievances without resort to violence.

Seen in these terms, the three interlinked components of the human rights system – norms and standards, monitoring and reporting, and technical assistance – provide a powerful framework for conflict and crisis prevention: risks, measured against universally-accepted standards, can be identified and then addressed through rights-based interventions before they result in conflict or violence. The human rights mechanisms, including the treaty bodies and the special procedures, can play an important part in identifying and addressing structural risk factors alongside the specific human rights issues that is their primary focus.

Because universal human rights apply to all people in all contexts, in development contexts as well as peace and security contexts, and because all countries in the world are already working towards implementing human rights norms, human rights have the advantage that they work to address many of the drivers of conflict and violence very early on, before a situation of imminent crisis or actual violence has activated other prevention mechanisms. Rights-based development assistance itself becomes a force for “upstream” prevention.

Human rights are most powerful for conflict prevention when all human rights are protected, respected and fulfilled. Economic, social and cultural rights (ESCRs) can be as important as civil and political rights as both drivers and triggers of crisis and conflict. Just as the seeds of the Second World War were sown as much in the economic and social hardships of the Great Depression as in the political repression of Fascism, modern day crises and conflicts are often caused by violations of ESCRs, compounded by violations of civil and political rights. Where people do not enjoy their ESCRs – access to work, livelihoods, education, healthcare and social security, for instance – and where they have no means to seek to address their violations – through political participation or recourse to judicial process – the risk that they will resort to violence will increase.

Efforts to eliminate all forms of discrimination and reduce inequalities are also an important factor in conflict or crisis prevention. Pathways for Peace found that “some of the greatest risks of violence today stem from the mobilization of perceptions of exclusion and injustice, rooted in inequalities across groups.” The human rights concept of non-discrimination seeks to ensure that everyone has equal access to human rights and that the progress realization of rights extends to all, especially those most vulnerable or marginalized. OHCHR works to combat discrimination in all its forms and pays particular attention to issues such as gender equality, racial discrimination, disability and minority rights and the rights of indigenous peoples, helping to build social cohesion and reduce exclusion and injustice, actual or perceived.

The role of human rights in building resilience to unexpected crisis

Not all crises are man-made and not all involve violence and conflict. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how suddenly crises can appear that can have impacts on lives, wellbeing and livelihoods every bit as devastating as armed conflict and violence. The pandemic has negatively affected the human rights of many millions of people around the world, in wealthy developed countries as well as the poorest and least developed. Yet it has also shown how the preventive power of human rights can help to craft better responses to crises like a pandemic, and that investment in human rights helps to strengthen resilience.

In April 2020, the Secretary-General published a Policy Brief, entitled “COVID-19 and Human Rights: We Are All In This Together”, which set out ways in which human rights could help to shape better responses to the pandemic, both for the public health emergency and the broader impact on people’s lives and livelihoods. The Brief contained a strong prevention message which can be applied to other crises.

Human rights put people centre-stage. Responses that are shaped by and respect human rights result in better outcomes in beating the immediate threat, for example by ensuring healthcare for everyone, and preserving human dignity. But they also focus attention on who is suffering most, why, and what can be done about it. 

Human rights guide States on how to exercise their power so that it is used for the benefit of the people and not to do harm. In a pandemic, human rights can help States to recalibrate their response measures to maximize their effectiveness in combating the disease and to minimize the negative consequences. The aim is threefold: to strengthen the effectiveness of the response to the immediate global threat; mitigate the broader impact of the crisis on people’s lives; and avoid creating new or exacerbating existing problems. All three elements help to position countries to build back better for everyone.

As the world contemplates the lessons to be learned from the COVID-19 crisis, human rights remind us all how to prevent a recurrence of the challenges that have been exposed by building protection systems and resilience. The crisis highlighted shortcomings in respect for human rights that fundamentally weakened the global and national response. Our ability to learn from the pandemic will determine not only our success in responding to future pandemics but also other global challenges, of which the most pressing is undoubtedly climate change.

The contribution of human rights to the prevention work of the Security Council

The Security Council has acknowledged that serious human rights abuses are not only a consequence of conflict but “can be an early indication of a descent into conflict or escalation of violence” and that the domestic implementation of human rights obligations can “contribute to timely prevention of conflicts” (S/RES/2171(2014). In his Call to Action on Human Rights, the Secretary-General asked the United Nations system to regularly provide human rights analysis and information to the Security Council on current and potential human rights and humanitarian crises.

Under the leadership of the High Commissioner and the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights in New York, OHCHR engages with the Security Council, where requested, to bring human rights information and analysis to the attention of Council members where relevant to the maintenance of international peace and security. OHCHR supports the work of human rights components within Security Council-mandated peace missions. Where human rights is integrated into the mandate of peace operations, it can contribute to prevention efforts by mitigating the worst effects of ongoing conflict on civilian populations and by laying the groundwork for post-conflict recovering and peacebuilding.