The UNF actively supports the Declaration of the Rights of Humanity. Ms. Corinne Lepage wishes to address the Members of the UNF as well as all of the Partner States of the UNF.
H.E Christophe Giovannetti, President of the UNF is happy to forward her message to you:
Par Madame Corinne Lepage, Présidente de la DDHU, Ex Ministre du Développement de la République Française.
The Universal Declaration of Humankind Rights is a particularly needed text for our times.
When it was requested by the President of the French Republic, written by the task force, adopted by a many public and private entities (in particular Union Cities and Local Governments which includes 240,000 cities and affects 5 billion inhabitants, very large cities of the world such as New York, San Francisco, Paris, Madrid and many others, about forty law societies, about sixty NGOs, etc.), the DHR appeared to be a declaration justified by the combination of ecological crises, the lack of access to resources for a large part of humanity, the ethical problems posed by technological progress and the risk of the disappearance of living beings.
Now, with the coronavirus pandemic and the immediate and future upheavals it is causing, this declaration of rights and duties appears even better adapted to our universal needs. Moreover, it may reinforce the objectives of sustainable development.
Almost all of humanity is confronted with this epidemic. Several billion people, albeit under very different conditions, are in quarantine and feel the fear of getting sick and the anxiety of the future. Humanity claims the right to live for everyone and accepts, with restrictive authoritarian measures,the duties that are necessary to safeguard everyone’s right to live. This is precisely the basis of the Declaration. Article 2 of the Preamble acknowledges the extreme seriousness of the situation, which is a matter of concern for all humanity and requires the recognition of new principles, rights and duties: here we are.
Article 3 of the Declaration, which is the third principle on which it is based, recalls that “the principle of the continuing existence of humankind guarantees the safeguarding and preservation of humanity through careful human activities respectful of nature, including human and non-human life”. The pandemic that we are experiencing reminds us, in a way, of the fragility of our existence, even if the virus is not the most violent that one can imagine. But the crisis we are experiencing clearly demonstrates our interdependence as human beings and our interdependence with nature. The right of humanity is the right to live, as it is the right of all living species. This is precisely what Article 5 proclaims: humanity, like all living species, has the right to live in a healthy and ecologically sustainable environment. It is precisely this right to live in an environment that does not contaminate us that is claimed and recognized.
However, this right has no meaning, value or effectiveness regarding duties, and in particular the right to ensure respect for the rights of humanity, including that of Article 5.
If these provisions might seem theoretical for some peoples, they are clearly no longer theoretical when, faced with the risk of disease which can affect everyone, the right to live in a healthy
environment takes on its full meaning as the duty to allow it, a requirement.
In the same way, Article 9 specifies that humanity has the right to human security in environmental, food, health, economic and political terms. Everyone today understands what health security means, whereas this concern may have concerned only a part of humanity until now. All countries, including the richest, all people today demand this safety.
Hence the duty contained in Article 14 to direct scientific and technical progress towards the preservation and health of the human species and other species. Today, everyone can only agree that this is the priority, because the endangerment of the health of the human species generates the endangerment of the entire economic and social organization, and consequently a vital risk for
humanity itself.
All that has just been recalled for health could be explained on the grounds regarding climate, living species and biodiversity in general.
The universal crisis that we are experiencing calls for a universal legal response that translates for humanity, conceived as the chain of generations, the rights and duties of each and every one for the benefit of all.
The Universal Declaration of Humankind Rights, already adopted by many cities, NGOs, public organizations, businesses, universities and law societies, is precisely a simple instrument, widely disseminated, which, in its flexibility, can serve as a cornerstone for the very many actions we will have to take in the future.
