Human Rights in Slovenia

Introduction

 A developing nation can be defined as a homogenous cultural domain (Chandra et al., 2015 p.56). The monolithic concept as illustrated by Martin W. Lewis “fails to show the profound variations in different states.” (2015 p.78-98). The many countries under this category render such generalization quite difficult. Nonetheless, developing countries have some things in common, including overpopulation, corruption, poverty, colonial history and personalized politics (Hart, 2013). Human rights, rights of children and marginalized groups are also handled differently in these countries. In this essay, we shall take Slovenia as a case study to examine how this developing nation deals with the issues of human rights, rights of children, and those of marginalised groups.  

Dealing with promotion of children’s rights

 The term human rights, as mentioned in the United Nations’ charter, has proved to be a key issue that warrants urgent attention. The UN’s Declaration of Human Rights endeavors to ensure that all people have access to social, economic, cultural, and civil rights, regardless of where one comes from (United Nations, 2015). However, most developing countries are yet to fully realise the universal human rights, although there has been great effort to promote these. In the Republic of Slovenia for instance, the human rights ombudsman was formed to create awareness and promote human rights (Guiliani, 2016 p.39). In 2016, a special department specializing in human rights was established and it mainly deals with the education and promotion of children’s rights (Bartlett et al., 2016). They also raise awareness of salient problems such as domestic violence and the right to live in friendly environments.  The human rights ombudsman was formed in cooperation with many schools and included various stakeholders such as pupils, teachers, and parents. The goal was to advance children’s rights in education. With funding from non-governmental organisations, the Association brought about an initiative for the drafting of a special law that would help deal with domestic violence. It also convened meetings with several ministers to help address the issue more diversely.

They enacted an appropriate promotion that is mainly aimed at raising awareness among the common citizens. The initiative deals with special cases such as domestic violence, the relationship between children and their parents, and contact with separated children and their parents. In the journey to raise awareness on children’s rights, social marketing has played a key role in ensuring its success (Hart, 2013). Slovenia is a good example of a developing country that has shown positive results in dealing with issues concerning human rights by following the international standards set up by the UN Declaration of Human Rights. Through the formation of conventions and spreading awareness, the country has been able to achieve positive results seen in other developed countries like equality for all regardless of class and social status.

Dealing with the promotion of special groups’ rights

Some people are deprived of human rights by political, cultural and socio-economic factors. Thus they are deprived of enjoying their guaranteed human rights. Such people are commonly referred to as ad hoc groups or disadvantaged communities (Chandra et al., 2015 p.56). These groups are broadly classified as refugees, women, migrant workers, the disabled, people living with HIV and trafficked persons. To assist them to augment their guaranteed rights, developing countries like Slovenia have formed some conventions with the sole aim of taking care of these rights (World Health Organisation, 2014).  The Republic of Slovenia bound itself in a statement of good intentions on December 6, 199,0 that stated that all minority groups are entitled to all rights provided in the legislation and the constitution, and also international acts. The Act also guaranteed members of other countries multi-faceted development of their cultural language. 

Dealing with the promotion of human rights

 Models and policies imported into a new country without considering its local context can lead to unintended consequences. Thus new approaches are crucial in pushing for the promotion of human rights in these developing countries. Campaigning for human rights is one method that is mainly used in developing countries (Stromquits & Monkman, 2014). The campaigner mainly seeks to build on values and beliefs that people are already used to. This is because the initiative becomes more accepted when it integrates the development aspirations of everyone in the respective country and also addresses their long-term needs (Giuliana, 2016 p. 39). 

 Recently, local people in Slovenia formed campaigning groups like the International Federation of Human Rights, which mainly deals with issues concerning human rights. The organisation mainly spreads awareness about human rights and also ensures equality in the justice process. Article 14 of the Slovenia states that every citizen is entitled to equal rights and freedoms (Amnesty International, 2017). Another way is through the ombudsman office where people are allowed to freely lodge their complaints which are submitted through an intermediary. They offer citizens an opportunity to have their concerns listened to and investigated by an independent, neutral person who doesn’t have a stake in the outcome.

Conclusion

Developing countries like Slovenia have financial constraints that may make it difficult to deal with issues of human rights for children, special groups such as the gay, and also the general population. Thus, other more economically friendly ways like the formation of special departments such as the ombudsman are used to promote these rights and raise proper awareness, and also implement laws through the right channels. In these ways, as we have seen above, conventions that specialize in dealing with these issues, and also self-sponsored groups like the International Federation of Human Rights, that hold events aimed at spreading awareness on the rights of children and ways to promote justice.

References

Amnesty International (2017). Slovenia 2016/2017.

Bartlett, S., Hart, R., Satterthwaite, D., de la Barra, X. and Missair, A., 2016. Cities for children: children’s rights, poverty, and urban management. Routledge.

Chandra-Mouli, V., Svanemyr, J., Amin, A., Fogstad, H., Say, L., Girard, F. and Temmerman, M., 2015. Twenty years after International Conference on Population and Development: where are we with adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights? Journal of Adolescent Health, 56(1), S1-S6.

Giuliani, E., 2016. Human rights and corporate social responsibility in developing countries’ industrial clusters. Journal of Business Ethics, 133(1), 39.

Hart, R.A., 2013. Children’s Participation: The theory and practice of involving young citizens in community development and environmental care. London: Routledge.

Martin, R. Lewis, 2014. Human rights diplomacy. London: Routledge.

Stromquist, N.P., and Monkman, K. eds., 2014. Globalization and Education: Integration and contestation across cultures. Lanham, Maryland: R&L Education.

United Nations., 2015. Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Wronka, J., 2016. Human rights and social justice: Social action and service for the helping and health professions.  London: Sage Publications.

World Health Organization, 2014. Ensuring human rights in contraceptive information and services: guidance and recommendations. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.