Ethical Commitments: Promoting and Protecting Human Rights

This article discusses the significance of ethical commitments in promoting and protecting human rights. It explores the role of the United Nations in upholding human rights and the challenges faced in implementing them. The article emphasizes the importance of ethical commitments in creating a sense of belonging, increasing efficiency, and contributing to the success of organizations.

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ETHICAL COMMITMENTS
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Ethical Commitments
Ethics are the principles that determine the behavior and the code of conduct of an individual
or an organization (Peters, 2015). A commitment is a vow to be dedicated and see something
through to the end. It is the willingness to give your time and energy to something that you
believe in, or a firm decision to do something. Ethical commitment, therefore, is the
dedication and discipline to follow the code of conduct and the beliefs of a person or an
organization (Demirtas, 2015, p. 60). Ethical commitments provide morale to go on when
someone is down or feels like backing out of something they had vowed to do. Furthermore,
ethical commitments to society improve the state and living conditions of society. In any
organization, the awareness and competence of its ethics can either lead to its success or
failure. In this audit, the paper is going to analyze and review one of the United Nation's
(UN) stated ethical commitments.
The United Nations is an international organization whose goal is to maintain world peace
and security, to create a neighborly atmosphere among nations and to create harmony among
nations.The UN was formed in 1945 right after the Second World War with the sole purpose
of reconciling countries that were in conflict and by extension bringing peace to the world in
order to solve social, humanitarian, cultural and economic international problems (Thakur,
2016, p. 5). Currently, the UN houses numerous subsidiaries. They include World Health
Organization (WHO), the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, International Labour
Organization, World Food Programme (WFP) among others.
The activities of the UN are based on ten principles that govern its operations. These
principles are derived from: United Nations Convention against corruption, International
Labour Organizations, Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at work, Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, and the Rio Declaration on Environment and development

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(Burchell, Kennedy, & Murray, 2015, p. 482). Many businesses incorporate these principles
into strategies and policies in a bid to carry out basic responsibilities to the environment and
people which also set them for the long-term success. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR) is among the ethical commitments that govern the operations of the United Nations.
The UDHR was documented in 1948 by nine representatives with diverse cultural, legal and
religious backgrounds from all over the world, which emerged from the experiences of the
Second World War. It has proclaimed common standards of treatment for people of all
nations, races, religions, and sexes. It was a great milestone in the history of human rights,
the protection and human dignity upholding. As of today, the document has been translated
into more than five hundred languages (Blau, 2017, p. 62). The reasoning behind the drafting
of the UDHR is as follows:
"Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all
members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world,"
"Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which
have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings
shall enjoy the freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been
proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,"
"Whereas it is essential if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to
rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of
law,"
“Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,”
“Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the charter affirmed their faith in
fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal

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rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better
standards of life in larger freedom,”
“Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the
United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and
fundamental freedoms,”
“Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance
for the full realization of this pledge,”
All member states and areas under the UN’s jurisdiction are required to have this declaration
in mind at all times and above all, to put it into practise. Also, to pass it on by teaching about
it progressively to maintain their national and international recognition and observance
(Morgan, 2016).
At the period before and surrounding the declaration, human oppression was rampant
around the world. It took the forms of slave trade in European countries and America,
extreme racism against people of colour, discrimination against women who were considered
weak and a man’s property, oppressive colonialism in Africa, war and hostility between
nations, lack of democracy and dictatorship among various countries around the world, and
unfair imprisonments and exiles of citizens by oppressive leaders. Human dignity was not
upheld and equality was hardly observed. It was a matter of who is superior and who was to
be trampled upon (Friedman, 2017).
In relation to human oppressionthat was happening around the world, the representatives thus
put downthirty articles that explicitly put across all the essential human rights in clear and
concise words. These articles were to be put into accord by the member states failure to
whichthere were consequences to be suffered by the offenders. For example, article one,
which reads, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are

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endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of
brotherhood,” (Shelton, 2015) put a stop to slavery and illegalized any other forms of
discrimination against human beings. Article twenty-four which states, " Everyone has the
right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic
holidays with pay", protects human beings from being overworked by their employers in their
places of work.
This principle has been incorporated in many different institutions. Schools, homes,
churches, courts of law and even the government obey the thirty articles that were born from
the Declaration of Human Rights. As per the Declaration, human rights are enforced, failure
to which punishment is served. For instance, a woman being denied a job because of her
gender is a violation of the law and is punishable by the same law. Businesses have also
incorporated this principle and broken it into two parts. The first part states that the
internationally proclaimed human rights should be respected and supported by all businesses.
The second one indicates that businesses should always ensure that they are not involved in
the abuses human rights (Jeewanthi, 2017, p. 2).
The United Nations ensures that Human Rights are adhered to through a number of ways.
For one, the Human Rights Up Front Initiative. The UN Secretary General, through this
initiative, ensures that the UN system is effective as mandated by the United Nations
resolutions. Itsgoal is to prevent and to respond to large scale human rights violations. For
instance, stopping a war between two countries before it begins especially if a lot of innocent
people are going to be caught in the middle. Or helping victims of war recover in terms of
medical aid and even food aid. Also, making sure the same thing does not repeat itself.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) has offices located in
various regions around the world which ensures the promotion and protection of the human

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rights. The UNHCR offices hold peacekeeping campaigns in member countries, sensitizing
on the importance of peace and the upholding of each other’s human dignity. The High
Commissioner for Human Rights investigates the human right situations in the world, gives
comments about them as well as issuing reports (Goda). This enables the UN to respond
appropriately to the different situations and in good time. The UNHCR was replaced in 2006
by the Human Rights Council, which is now the main sovereign UN intergovernmental body
that is responsible for International human rights.
Human Rights Treaty Bodies are independent bodies that see through the implementation of
Multi-national human rights treaties. The United Nations also has volunteers working in the
Human rights Council Special Procedures which examine report and offer to advice on
human rights from an expert point of view.
Leading to increasing cases of genocides, the most famous one being the Rwanda genocide
that took place twenty five years ago and destroyed millions of lives, the UN has a unit
known as The Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide. This unit catalyzes the
awareness of the causes and dynamics of genocide, alerts the relevant parties in case of a
possibility of genocide and mobilizes for the appropriate course of action.
The above-mentioned units of the United Nations ensure that Human Rights are observed all
over the world according to the charter and that the necessary actions are taken in case human
rights are violated or are threatened.
The UN is obviously giving their all to ensure that human rights are protected and promoted
all over the world. However, that does not mean that the world is immune to violations of
human rights. Human rights continue to be disobeyed over and over again. Oppressive
leaders continue to make the lives of their subjects miserable in various regions of the world.

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These leaders take away democracy from the people making it impossible for them to have
an opinion or to complain about their dissatisfactions.
Women, people of color and people with different religious beliefs continue to be
discriminated against (2010, p. 486). They are treated as less of human beings compared to
their oppressors. Young, innocent and unarmed black men are shot out of nowhere by white
police men based only on the assumption that they could be dangerous. A qualified woman is
denied a job in a company where a man with the same qualifications is hired. Or a woman
working the same position as a man gets a lower salary compared to the man. A Jew is denied
service in a German store.
Countries continue to fight and become war-bone. The ongoing fights in Syria leave the
country as the most war ravaged currently in the world. The Civil War in Syria is a fight
between the civilians that demand the eradication of President Bashar Al-Assad's rule and the
government retaliation by fire and arms. The United Nations heavily criticized the
government for pulling that move on the civilians. However, the war is still ongoing until
today. It has left a very big percentage of Syrians homeless and displaced. Hundreds of
thousands have lost their lives. Other countries continue to experience war and unrest despite
the UN's interference.
All in all, inasmuch as the Principle of Declaration of Human Rights has greatly impacted
human lives by ending long-term acts of inhumanity such as slavery and sexism, as well as
mediating between nations and persecuting oppressive world leaders, there is evidently still a
gap between the ethical commitment of human rights and the reality of it, albeit by a small
percentage, as proven by the paragraphs above (Smith).
The upside of the UDHR is that it has led to the realization of world peace and stability.
Second, it has led to the recognition and the implementation of human rights the world over

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by setting standards on how every human being should be treated as stated in the thirty
articles. It protects citizens of the world such that if a government is accused of violating
human rights, it can be judged as per a set procedure. Also, it advocates for citizens fully
taking part in their governments and participating in the development of their countries. The
UNHR has provided the equivalent of a marking scheme for developing human rights in
various countries, organizations, and institutions.
The downside of UDHR is that often there are limitations in how the UDHR is implemented.
Some areas are not under the jurisdiction of the UN making it difficult to do anything
substantial about the human rights situation in that area. Again, these laws are optional to
follow and as a result, are not followed by everybody. Some people ignore them which leads
to the disparity between the commitment and reality of matters. Therefore, this declaration is
better in paper because, in practice, it is easy to go against it without being noticed or
suffering any major consequences. Furthermore, the UDHR does not have the power to be
enforced legally. Some cultures and religions do not agree with some of the rights by the
UDHR and therefore go against it. For instance, many Muslim and Arabic communities do
not believe in equal treatment of men and women. As a matter of fact, in Saudi Arabia,
women were not allowed to drive until recently. Developing countries may find it hard to
follow some of the rules due to their economic status. For instance, they may not afford
quality education and health care. In addition, some jobs created by the UDHR may go
against human rights in terms of working conditions and low wage rates.
Conclusion
Ethical commitments are an important factor in any organization. It gives members of the
organization a sense of what needs to be done and a road map to achieving this goal. It brings
in a sense of belonging due to the shared beliefs and attitudes. It increases efficiency in an

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organization because people actually see through these obligations to the very end. Ethical
commitments could be in terms of duty to the environment or duty to society. It could take
the form of giving back to society, planting trees, treating employees honorably or as is in
this case, promoting and protecting human rights. In a nutshell, ethical commitments are
necessary for the success of any organization.

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Demirtas, O. (2015). The effect of ethical leadership behavior on ethical climate, turnover intention,
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Friedman, S. (2017). Jews and the American slave trade. . Routledge.
Goda, M. S. OF THE UNITED NATIONS.
Jeewanthi, M. G. (2017). BUSSINESS ENTERPRISES AND HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS. Journal of
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