Human Rights

Zapatista guerrillas and Mexican indigenous groups march for indigenous rights [Marcella Haddad]

The true test of a fair society is the degree to which it fulfils human rights, including the right to health, adequate housing, sufficient food, education, justice and security

Society is built on governance, which essentially means the way in which public institutions - such as national and local governments - conduct public affairs and manage resources.

Good governance does this in a way that is free of abuse and corruption, and which respects the rule of law.

The link between human rights and development is strong. The UN states that development is a human right, for which individuals, communities, national and international bodies must have respect.

Civil society - the media, religious groups, pressure groups, local credit collectives and trade unions - can play a crucial role in protecting the rights of ordinary people and promoting development.

Justice for all

Social and economic justice must be applied to an entire society - and therefore to the idea of building a just society, which gives individuals and groups their due.

Catholic social teaching tells us that the moral test of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable members, and that the deprivation and powerlessness of the poor wounds the whole community.

It states that economies must serve people, not the other way around, and that all workers have a right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, and to safe working conditions.

They also have a fundamental right to organise and join unions, and that inequalities of wealth - that some people have excessive wealth when others lack the basic necessities of life - is wrong.

latest updates elsewhere on www.cafod.org.uk

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