Social Justice in an Open World: The Role of the United Nations
Chapter 5
Social justice and the United Nations: the divide between human rights and economic and social development The evolution of views on internationaljustice in the United Nations and the changing perception of the relevance of social justice within the Organization are two stories with many links. The Second and Third Committees of the General Assembly have different agendas and are to an extent the domains of delegates, NGO representatives and members of the Secretariat with different sensibilities and habits of the mind. A person transferring from one committee to the other will typically refer to the move as a "change of hats". Economic matters, including inequalities between countries, are perceived by virtually all as serious and centred around hard facts, whereas social issues carry political or, worse, philosophical connotations and are associated with "soft" values. Nonetheless, the paths of international justice and social justice, at both the conceptual and practical levels, have often crossed owing to changes in the spirit of the times and the culture of the Organization that reflect evolving political configurations and i?tellectual currents. In fact, there is a coherence in the evolution of the treatment of the various issues that come under the mandate of the United Nations that is surprising only to those who underestimate the power of ideas in the life of an institution. In the present context, the telling of the "story" of social justice in the United Nations, distinct from an evocation of the avatars of international justice in the same organization, is justified by the need to explain the divorce between human rights and d e ~ e l o p m e n t . ~ ~
5.1 Auspicious beginnings for the promotion of human rights and justice The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in its preamble, states that "the highest aspiration of the common people" is "the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want", and associates "recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family" with "freedom, justice and peace in the world". The Declaration, in its 30 articles, essentially provides a catalogue of human rights, and in article 29 and elsewhere, various duties, the respect and fulfilment of which shall bring justice to the peoples of the world. Whether stated in the positive ("everyone is entitled to" or "has the right to" or "has duties to") or in the negative ("no one shall be held in slavery" or "be subjected to torture" or "arbitrary arrest"), these rights and duties are addressed to all members of the human family and are inalienable. In the two international human rights covenants that were adopted and became enforceable some two decades later, the principles of the Declaration are