Human Rights Issues and Their Implications on Public Administrators

Human rights refer to fundamental and inalienable rights which an individual is entitled to because they are human beings. Notably, such rights are inherent in all individuals (human beings) irrespective of the differences in race, religion, language or geographical locations (Hoffmann, 2010). This study therefore endeavors to examine the current human issues in the society as well as a brief examination of the nature of such issues in relation to their significance to the general public. The kind of feeling these issues evoked are also touched on in this study alongside the implications of what human rights issues have on public administrators. To sum it up, this study also strike a balance in examining the insights obtained from this issues are critical in nurturing a public administrator.

Human rights issues are numerous and this endeavor only looks at few of them. People have a right to democracy. However, this right is violated by countries which embrace authoritarian leadership. This has become a hot topic that pressure has been piled up both for and against in countries threatening democratic foundations (Shah, 2013). Individuals have a right to participate in deciding how they are governed by fully participating in it. This has been an issue since some people do not believe in it while those that believe in it think that rights are frequently violated by selfish leaders and thus strive to claim it back by paying a lot of political sacrifices. Woman rights is another human rights issue that has been receiving endorsement with equal amount of rejection. Some of the technical issues surrounding this topic are the inequalities in remuneration and gender issues (Shah, 2013). The issue has always been whether to promote girl child and women rights while neglecting the counter sex. Proponents say that this should be done to realize gender equality while its critics view it as a source of gender inequality in the future arising from neglecting the boy child. The plight of indigenous people is another human rights issue that is widely examined in about 370 states (Shah, 2013). They have continuously been deprived of the advantages of possessing land and other important rights thus necessitating their protection. The emerging trend of violence has led to authorities violating rights including the rights to religion (Shah, 2013). Some religions are being perceived to promote violence warranting the discussion of human right of religion.

Other common human rights issues are ‘corporations and human rights, surveillance state: NSA spying, the internet and human rights, right to information among others (Stearns, 2012).  These right have attracted attention from global organizations. In one of his reports, Amnesty International say that, “To guarantee the human rights of children is to invest in the future.” (Donnelly, 2013).  This was meant to encourage the rest of the world to protect the rights of the children. The issues about children’s rights that have been on the limelight are the child labor, political campaigns, indulgence in sexual behavior, sexual violence, physical abuse and access to basic fundamental rights like health, education among others. This necessitated several countries with the exception of Somalia and USA ratifying the ‘The Convention on the Rights of the Child.’ Racial discrimination has been experienced all over the world over the last decades. This has hastened formulation of laws and regulations protecting different races in various countries thus racism being discussed as a component of human rights issues.

The human rights issues really appeal to individual feelings. For instance, the issues widely discussed about children rights such as physical and sexual harassment appeal to my feelings. Most of the common human right issues concur with my beliefs. For example, I strongly believe that democratic human rights should be upheld, a position that majority of those who endeavor to examine democracy concur with. Noteworthy, these issues have immensely contributed to my knowledge base, for example, the human rights to surveillance and internet. Prior to analysis of this week’s readings of human rights, I had very little information about them if any. The human rights issues salient analyses and discussions have to a great extent contributed to experience. The experience level was very minimal before these readings, but having looked at several children’s rights violation in different parts of the world, what causes them and the impact they had, my experience with this topic has enormously increased.

It is worth noting that in-depth knowledge of the human rights issues is fundamentally required in several occupations. Public administrators stand to benefit from sound knowledge of human rights a great deal in performing their daily operations of directing and coordinating firms’ employees while tackling administrative, fiscal, financial and public guardian roles (Perry, 2015). Public administrators directly deal with humans and they must deeply understand human rights based on two main reasons: The price paid by the company if legal action is taken by those whose rights are violated by the company is so heavy affecting financial returns (Perry, 2015). Simultaneously, beside mere fact that human rights are inherent to all, their violation by the administrators immensely ruins the company’s reputation.

This study therefore takes the stand that the sound and deep knowledge of human rights issues will be very vital in developing a qualified public administrator. This belief is supported by several reasons: From the onset, a public administrator with sound understanding of the human rights issues will save his or her organization from legal expenses and loss due to wanting public reputation (Perry, 2015). A public administrator with such knowledge will respect his or her employees’ rights leading to high input out of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Another advantage is that such administrators will exonerate themselves from racial and geographical discrimination leading to good public image which frequently lead to good public relations and high profits (Perry, 2015). In summary, the knowledge of human rights issues is critical to all employees and public administrator alike.    

References

Donnelly Jack (2013). Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice. New York, America.

Hoffmann S., L., (2010). Human Rights in the Twentieth Century. Cambridge, England.

Perry L., J., (2015). The Efficient Administrator. London, England.

Shah Anup (2013). Human Rights Issues. Global Issues. New Delhi, India.

Stearns Peter (2012). Human Rights in World History. New York, America.