Have Your Say: Why Does Justice Matter To You?
How can we create a more just world? This is a question that guides me in my work at the United Nations every day and is at the heart of what is known as the rule of law.
Although it may sound like an abstract concept, the rule of law affects us all. It is the voter ID in the hands of a citizen, the badge of a trusted police officer and the birth certificate that lets a girl be counted. Widows who are denied their inheritance, human rights defenders who suffer retributions and victims of sexual abuse – they all need the rule of law to obtain the justice they deserve.
The rule of law underpins peace, human rights, and development – the three pillars of the United Nations.
It ensures that our human rights are protected, justice is accessible to us all, and that none of us, including governments, is above the law. These are fundamental principles. Without them, societies cannot function properly – let alone prosper.
Without a stable legal framework, corruption, exploitation and abuse of power can prevail. When respected, the rule of law leads to good governance and helps secure inclusive economic growth. Companies function better, while investors have the ability to plan with assurances that they can protect their assets in the long-term.
A sustainable investment in the rule of law can help create the world we all want – free of injustice and full of possibility.
Enhancing the rule of law requires us all to collaborate, and the private sector has a role to play: While a company’s investment decisions can sometimes exacerbate the tensions that fuel instability, they can also contribute toward development and peace.
The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is a clear example of how companies operating in resource-rich countries can have a positive impact on a country’s rule of law agenda. And through the UN Global Compact -- the world’s largest corporate sustainability effort – we support initiatives that harness the influence of the private sector in building stable and peaceful societies.
Because of the huge impact that the rule of law has on every one of us, last month I launched my online rule of law survey – so I can hear directly why justice matters to you and which aspects of the rule of law are most important in your life.
I encourage you to take the survey and have your say. Your views will be captured in a report that I will present to the UN General Assembly, to support our global commitment and cooperation on the rule of law.
Help the UN promote the universal principles of equality and justice. With common resolve, we can guide current and future generations toward more just societies – and build the foundation for a better future.
Find out more about the UN and the rule of law
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Global President The World Economic Forum For Asia-Africa (WEFAA) & Global President -International Non-Olympic Committee-INOC & Group Chairman -ISE Cards India India Ltd
9yThe International Non-Olympic University has decided to recruit National Brand Ambassadors (NBA) in each Country of the World, The INOU need a very popular person from your country and you can recommend for other Country too, who can become National Brand Ambassador for International Non-Olympic University as we have already appointed in South Africa and Egypt, and we are process of appointing Morocco, Philippines, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah etc.,. We would request you to please recommend personalities from (a). Extra Ordinary achievement in the Education fields-men or women? (b.) A top businessman/Industrialist-men or women? (c.) A top political personality-men or women? (d.) A top NGO head-men or women? (e.) A top Sports Person-men or women? Who can give good boom to INOU in his/her Country and further they can establish National Non-Olympic University (Online and Regular University) and can open colleges and do many collaboration and tie-ups for our University, and he/she can run UNDP and other social Global NGO programs into Education Sector under INOU Charter. We would urge you to visit these two links to know more about NBA. ; 1 -- http://www.inou-edu.org/bamessage.html 2 -- http://www.inou-edu.org/news.html Send CV at: info@inou-edu.org
Abogado - Partner at Badeni, Cantilo, Carricart & Bilbao
10y"Without a stable legal framework, corruption, exploitation and abuse of power can prevail". Completely agree. On the other hand, I completely disagree with not mentioning the decisive role governments and bureaucrats must play in establishing the rule of law. It is commonly accepted that governments have a free hand to overstretch their limits and faculties, while us citizens must limit our actions to the existing rules (which of course is right). These overstretching of governments' limits is exactly what triggers the corruption, exploitation and abuse of power mentioned by Mr. Ban Ki-moon. In my opinion, the first step to a fully succesfull rule of law must be taken by governments asuming the same position of the rest of the citizens. Even though governments have the guns and the right to use force in order to protect life and property of their citizens, they should not be different from any other person or company in every other aspect.
Vice Commodore/African Yachting Association; Mathematics Professor/American David Livingstone University of Florida
10yThe implementation of the Millennium Development Goals in most of the least developed countries of the world (Africa, in particular) amounts to nothing less than empty rhetorics. Refugees uprooted from both artificial and natural disasters are still languishing in countries such as Ukraine, in the presence of ample donation of funds to the UN Refugee Agency. Refugees' children still cannot have guaranteed access to education for a better future. African refugees with higher education are being discriminated against and cannot have job opportunities in Ukraine; they cannot feed themselves and their families; others do not have the opportunities for skills upgrade and vocational education. The regional mission of the UN Refugee Agency in Ukraine most often than not only pays lip service to international protection of refugees and their local integration with flamboyant rhetorics, without addressing the plight of recognized refugees in Ukraine. This is incompatible and quite contradictory to the universal principles of equality and justice and the rule of law the UN is talking about. The world cannot be in peace when the overwhelming majority of people do not have the basic necessities of life, when they languish in abject poverty, and the means and resources are not provided for them to climb out of poverty. For example, there are opportunities for resettlement of recognized refugees which the present Resident Representative has categorically and permanently scrapped and frozen. There is simply no justice in sight for refugees in Ukraine. Refugees in Ukraine cannot viably be locally integrated in the Ukrainian society with its high level of racial discriminatory practices and intolerance, while at the same time denying them resettlement opportunities to deserving individual cases. The intervention of the Secretary-General of the UN is needed in this context. Let those responsible be recalled to Geneva for consultation or re-schooling on these all-important issues.
Vice Commodore/African Yachting Association; Mathematics Professor/American David Livingstone University of Florida
10yARRO is still troubled and concerned about the continuous detention of a Somalian lady who has been languishing in Odessa prison. We are once again requesting and calling on UNHCR BO-Kiev authorities to take appropriate actions to secure her immediate release. According to information received from a source linked to an Odessa-based sorority organization, she has been jailed along with her infant child as a result of a court verdict. Though we don't still have sufficient details, it is our opinion that the ve...rdict concerns "illegal border crossing" into Ukraine. This is not a justifiable reason under international humanitarian law, especially in the context of the 1951 Genava Convention, which guarantees freedom of movement and international protection for refugees and asylum seekers. AARO has requested information regarding the legality of the verdict, but the representative of the women organization (her mobile phone number 093-358-5046) does not yet have access to said verdict; she promised to have us informed as soon as possible. According to her, the Somalian lady and her infant has been in prison for about a year and half. Blog Posted from https://www.facebook.com/index.php#!/africanrefugees.odessa