It's often said that human rights are the result of the progress of human civilization. In the history of human rights development in the world, there are always important moments and documents worth our commemoration. The important documents created by these important moments have a significant impact on the progress of human civilization and deserve our commemoration in high esteem.

 

On June 14, 1993, it was destined to be a memorable day in the history of human rights development in the world. On this day, the Second World Conference on Human Rights was held in Vienna and representatives from over 180 countries and regions, including China, attended this Conference. The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, the final document adopted at the Conference, is a milestone in the history of the global human rights.

 

History is always in strikingly resemblance. Since the end of the Second World War, there are two declarations having a particularly important impact on the history of global human rights development, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. If the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the outcome of the victory of the Anti-Fascist War of the Second World War and highlights the universality of human rights, then the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action can be seen as the outcome of the end of the Cold War for nearly 50 years, emphasizing equality and indivisibility, interdependence and interrelatedness of all human rights on the basis of universality. Through studies on the contents of the two declarations, it’s not difficult to discover the ideological trajectory and historical context in the progress of human rights civilization since the birth of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 75 years ago.

 

An obvious fact is that the international community, inspired by the spirit of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, has made great efforts to explore models, paths and methods for the effective promotion and protection of human rights in the past 30 years. Human rights civilization is richer in diversity and the achievements in the development of human rights in the world are impressive.

 

Global inequality, which has plagued human development for a long time, decreased. According to statistics, the actual income of over 60% of the world's population increased by 40% to 75% during the 20 years from 1988 to 2008 alone, mainly coming from Asian countries such as China, India, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. Besides, the income of the bottom 10% of the population in these countries has obtained real growth, especially China, considering that it has historically solved the problem of absolute poverty and lifted nearly 800 million people out of poverty in decades following its completion of the building of a moderately prosperous society in all aspects.

 

The average life span of humans continues to increase due to the precise improvement of development and security levels. Research have shown that the average life span of human beings was only 15 years old in the Primitive Society, and only 25 years old in ancient times. It was not until the 20th century that the average life span of human beings took a leap from 40 years old at the beginning of the 20th century to 64 years old in 1990. This number continued to grow up to over 73 years old in 2019 after entering the 21st century, and 78.2 years old in 2021, close to the level of developed countries. Due to the continuous growth of life span, there are currently 8 billion people all over the world, which is an unprecedented achievement worthy of human pride and honor.

 

At the same time, we must also recognize that there are still many issues that cannot be ignored in the development of human rights in the real world. On the one hand, a large number of refugees exist because of regional conflicts, and the poverty level is increased due to the widening of the development gap and the prevailing of COVID-19. The right to life of ethnic minorities is trampled because of ceaseless racial discrimination, and the development is unsustainable due to climate warming and ecological environment degradation. All of the above issues make it more urgent and difficult to effectively protect basic human rights and improve human welfare. On the other hand, some countries pursue the universal view of human rights, and manage to realize human rights hegemony. They blindly politicize, instrumentalize and weaponize human rights, treating them in a confrontational rather than cooperative manner.

 

The following three basic facts may provide us a clearer understanding of the human rights situation in present world.

 

First, the human development index is declining. In September 2022, the United Nations Development Programme released the latest Human Development Report, which is the first data updated since the COVID-19 pandemic. The Report shows that the global human development index has declined for the first time for two consecutive years since records began due to the COVID-19, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, record-breaking high temperatures, fires, storms and other natural disasters. The human development index of more than 90% of countries (including the three measures of "life expectancy at birth", "years of education" and "gross national income per capita") was declined in 2020 or 2021, far exceeding the number of countries suffering reversal after the global financial crisis in 2009.

 

Second, the number of people affected by hunger has risen again worldwide. The proportion of people suffering hunger in the world was relatively stable since 2015, but sharply increased in 2020. According to the World Food Security and Nutrition in 2022 released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the number of people affected by hunger in the world reached 828 million in 2021, an increase of about 46 million compared with 2020 and an accumulated increase of 150 million since the outbreak of COVID-19. Nearly 924 million people (accounting for 11.7%) in the world are suffering severe food insecurity, an increase of 207 million over the past two years. About 45 million children under the age of five are suffering emaciation, which is the deadliest form of malnutrition and will increase the risk of child death by 12 times. The latest evidence presented in the Report indicates that the world is further deviating from its goals and cannot guarantee the elimination of hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition by 2030.

 

Third, climate change has a significant impact on human survival and development. According to the "2022 Global Climate Report" recently released by the World Meteorological Organization, the estimated global average temperature in 2022 is approximately 1.15 degrees Celsius, higher than the average value in pre-industrialization from 1850 to 1900. The period from 2015 to 2022 was the hottest 8 years since records began in 1850. Climate changes directly impact global food security, exacerbate global water scarcity and make more people destitute and homeless, becoming 'climate refugees'. It’s predicted in the World Bank's 2021 Report that over 200 million people in the world will migrate in the following 30 years due to extreme weather or slow environmental degradation.

 

All of the above indicate that there is still much work to be done by the international community to actively promote global human rights governance and push the development of the world's human rights cause. The international community still needs to make unremitting efforts to achieve the goals and tasks of promoting and protecting all human rights set forth in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. When seeking solutions to the problems faced in the development of human rights in the world today, people have a deeper sense of the value of the human rights spirit advocated and embodied in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, which still has important implications for pushing the development of human rights in present world.

 

Firstly, we should put more emphasis on the universality, equality and balance of human rights. It’s emphasized in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated. Facing the inequality and imbalance in the development of human rights in today's world, the international community should stand on the same position, attach equal importance to human rights, and comprehensively view human rights with a fair and equal attitude. Moreover, special attention should be paid to the human rights protection of minority groups, impoverished populations, refugees, as well as women, children, disabled individuals and the elderly.

 

Secondly, we should pay more attention to the implementation and protection of the right to development. It’s reaffirmed in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action that the right to development is a universal and indivisible right and also an important component of fundamental human rights. Current global challenges highlight the importance of promoting sustainable development. The international community should adhere to the principle that "human beings are the central subject of development", promote human rights through development, and push on the improvement of human rights protection through high-quality, inclusive, and common-good development.

 

Thirdly, we should lay more stress on the protection of human rights in the development of the real world. Policy recommendations are put forward for some issues concerning human rights protection faced in the development of human society 30 years ago in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, such as "equally meeting the developmental and environmental needs of future generations”, “everyone has the right to enjoy scientific progress and its practical benefits”, "the widespread existence of extreme poverty hinders the full and effective enjoyment of human rights",  "the rapid and comprehensive elimination of all forms of racism and racial discrimination" and "guard against and combat all forms of terrorism”, which have important implications for us to protect human rights in present world.

 

Fourthly, we should lay more stress on international cooperations in the field of human rights. Facts have proven that unity and cooperation are the fundamental way to promote the development of human rights in the world. The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action is the product of the solidarity and cooperation of the international community. The "determination to take a new step for the commitment of the international community and engage in international cooperation and solidarity with concerted and continuous efforts in order to obtain real progress in the cause of human rights" revealed in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action is still of great significance. In present world, all parties need to conduct human rights exchanges and cooperations on the basis of equality, unity and mutual respects, and continuously inject positive energy into the development of the world's human rights cause.

 

To solve the problems in the development of world human rights and vigorously promote global human rights governance, we need to continue to implement the spirits advocated in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, and adopt more active policies and actions. In recent year, President Xi Jinping put forward the significant ideas of building a community with a shared future for mankind, the global development initiative, the global security initiative and the global civilization initiative, providing Chinese wisdoms and solutions for promoting the development of the world's human rights cause. China's ideas and initiatives are in line with the common values of mankind, and go hand in hand with the spirit of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. Besides, they are adaptive to the development of the new era and more targeted. In the current era, it’s more important for the international community to strengthen solidarity and cooperation, adhere to the promotion of human rights through development, improve the level of human rights protection through high-quality development, promote and protect all human rights without discrimination, and strive to ensure that people of all countries equally enjoy universal and enough human rights.

 

(The author is vice president of the China Society for Human Rights Research, professor and doctoral supervisor at Jilin University)