When technology and humanity cross

Topic: Science, technology, human rights, and human dignity

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

 Human rights in the face of scientific and technological advancement are critical factors in one’s journey toward
eudaimonia or the good life.
 Exercising the right to accept or reject, minimize or maximize, and evaluate and decide on the scope and function
of science and technology indicates human flourishing in science and technology.
 Protecting the well-being and upholding the dignity of the human person must be at the core of continued scientific
and technological progress and development and this is the focus of a human rights-based approach to science,
technology, and development.
 S. Romi Mukherjee, a senior lecturer in Political Theory and the History of Religions at the Paris Institute of Political
Studies, explained a human rights-based approach to science, technology, and development as follows:
 Seeks to place a concern for human rights at the heart of how the international community engages with urgent
global challenges.
 It puts the international human rights entitlements and claims of the people (the ‘right-holders’) and the
corresponding obligations of the state (the ‘duty-bearer’) in the center of the national development debate, and
 It clarifies the purpose of capacity development.
 The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on
December 10, 1948 as the global standard of fundamental human rights for universal recognition and protection.
Therefore, once worth is due to being human.
 Human dignity is an ultimate core value of our existence. Once this is recognized, we become more progressive.

 The UDHR is composed of 30 articles which outline the inalienable rights needed to live a good life. This includes
the following:
 Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal and should be treated the same way.
 Article 2: Everyone can claim their rights regardless of sex, race, language, religion, social standing, etc.
 Article 3: Everyone has the right to life and to live in freedom and safety.
 Article 4: No one has the right to treat you as a slave nor should you enslave anyone.
 Article 5: No one has the right to torture you.
 Article 6: You should be legally protected in the same way everywhere like anyone else.
 Article 7: The law is the same for everyone and should be applied in the same manner to all.
 Article 8: You have the right to obtain legal help and access the justice system when your rights are not
respected.
 Article 9: No one can arrest or detain you arbitrarily, or send you away from your country unjustly.
 Article 10: Trials should be public and tried in a fair manner by an impartial and independent tribunal.
 Article 11: You are considered innocent until it can be proved you are guilty according to law. If accused of a
crime you have the right to a defense.
 Article 12: You have the right to protection if someone tried to harm your good name, enter your home without
permission or interfere with your correspondence.
 Article 13: You have the right to leave or move within your own country and you should be able to return.
 Article 14: If you are persecuted at home, you have the right to seek protection in another country.
 Article 15: You have the right to belong to a country and have a nationality.
 Article 16: Men and women have the right to marry when they are legally able without limits due to race,
nationality or religion. Families should be protected by the Government and the justice system.
 Article 17: You have the right to own things. No one has the right to illegally take them from you.
 Article 18: Everyone has the right to freely manifest their religion, to change it and to practice it alone or with
others.
 Article 19: Everyone has the right to think and say what they like and no one should forbid it.
 Article 20: You have the right to organize and participate in peaceful meetings.
 Article 21: Everyone has the right to take part in their country’s political affairs and equal access to public
service. Governments should be voted for regularly.
 Article 22: Society should help individuals to freely develop and make the most of all advantages offered in
their country.
 Article 23: Everyone has the right to work in just and favorable conditions and be free to choose your work with
a salary that allows you to live and support family. Everyone should receive equal pay for equal work.
 Article 24: Each work day should not be too long and everyone has the right to rest and take regular paid
holidays.
 Article 25: You have the right to have what you need so that you and your family do not go hungry, homeless
or fall ill.
 Article 26: You have the right to go to school, continue your studies as far as you wish and learn regardless of
race, religion or country of origin.
 Article 27: You have the right to share the benefits of your community’s culture, arts and sciences.
  Article 28: To make sure your rights are respected, there must be an order that can protect them. This order
should be global.
 Article 29: You have duties toward the community within which your personality can fully develop. The law
should guarantee human rights. It should allow everyone to respect others and to be respected.
 Article 30: No one, institution nor individual, should act in any way to destroy the rights enshrined in the UDHR.

 Mukherjee, listed some of the most important documents that center on a human rights-based approach to science,
technology, and development and their key principles:
 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 27)
 This document affirms everyone’s right to participate in and benefit from scientific advances, and be
protected from scientific misuses.
 The right to the benefits of science comes under the domain of ‘culture’, so it is usually examined from a
cultural rights perspective.
 UNESCO Recommendation on the Status of Scientific Researchers - 1974 (Article 4)
 This document affirms that all advances in scientific and technological knowledge should solely be geared
towards the welfare of the global citizens, and calls upon member states to develop necessary protocol and
policies to monitor and secure this objective.
 Countries are asked to show that science and technology are integrated into policies that aim to ensure a
more humane and just society.
 UNESCO Declaration of the Use of Scientific Knowledge - 1999 (Article 33)
 This document states, “Today, more than ever, science and its applications are indispensable for
development.
 All levels of government and private sector should provide enhanced support for building up an adequate
and evenly distributed scientific and technological capacity through appropriate education and research
programs as an indispensable foundation for economic, social, cultural and environmentally sound
development.
 This Declaration encompasses issues such as pollution-free production, efficient resource use, biodiversity
protection, and brain drains.

 A human rights-based approach to science, technology, and development sets the parameters for the appraisal of
how science, technology, and development promote human well-being.
 Human rights should be integral to the journey toward the ultimate good.
 They should guide humans not only to flourish as individual members of society, but also to assist each other in
flourishing collectively as a society.
 Human rights are rights to sustainability.
 They may function as the ‘golden mean’, particularly protecting the weak, poor, and vulnerable from the deficiencies
and excesses of science and technology.
 By imposing upon science and technology the moral and ethical duty to protect and uphold human rights, there can
be a more effective and sustainable approach to bridging the between poor and rich countries on both tangible and
intangible aspects.
 Through this, humans will flourish together through science and technology.