A Universal Human Rights Model
Nazar Al Baharna
Outskirts Press (2013)
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (12/13)
Since 1945, and estimated 60 million people have died or been physically or emotionally maimed as a result of their human rights being violated. These numbers continue to rise. Educating people, communities and nations about Human Rights will help to reduce these incidences of abuse. In “A Universal Human Rights Model,” Nazar Al Baharna created a Universal Human Rights model that can be used by any country whether they are established or still developing. He explains the necessary human rights that should be respected in every country. These cover all areas of life including: civil activity, political freedom, social needs, economic wellbeing, cultural pursuits and environmental goals.
The Human Rights model is broken down and organized into five elements so that each one can be explained in greater depth. By using this handbook each country can develop a comprehensive action plan to address their goals of achieving human rights equality and to design their own human rights initiatives. By having access to the comprehensive amount of information in this book, it will enable the planners to speed up the process because all of the information that they need is in one resource. There is also an extensive appendix which lists additional resources if further research is needed.
Human rights extend beyond just being laws that are put into place to protect individuals; they also protect our rights as human beings and define our humanity. Nazar Al Baharna’s “A Universal Human Rights Model” is a critical resource to have for those involved with human rights. It is also a very interesting text to have for those who are interested in the topic, especially if they want to see a comparison between what each country has to offer regarding this topic.