A declaration adopted at the 5th World
Conference on Injury Prevention and Control, New Delhi, 8th March
2000
The Human Rights approach has been used effectively in many arenas, including the rights of the child, the rights of women and the rights of people in development. The Human Rights approach attempts to address issues of accountability at levels that range from that of the individual to those of the larger political and economic systems. The issues which such a document might address include non-discrimination, relationship to other human rights, accountability, the right to organise, the right to appropriate health care, the right to complain, sovereignty over living environments, the right to information and education, the right to participation, the right to environmental monitoring, the right to emergency preparedness, the right to relief and compensation, the right to enforcement of safety laws, the right to effective legal representation, the right to fair procedures, and the right to hold organisations and states accountable.
Safety can be defined as a state in which
hazards and conditions leading to physical, psychological, and material harm
are controlled in order to preserve the health and well-being of individuals
and communities. Safety is a dynamic state resulting from the interaction of
human beings with their physical, social, cultural, technological, political,
economic and organisational environment. The objective is to establish a
permanent state of vigilance and develop the mechanisms to control dangers on a
continuous basis.
Safety relates to various dimensions of
physical, social, and psychological well being. It includes the prevention and control of injuries, both physical
and psychological, to individuals and communities as it should be contained in
the notion of “human security” which is being discussed by the UN Security
Council.
Essential conditions for both physical safety
and the perception of safety include:
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freedom from violence in a climate of peace,
justice and equity protecting human rights;
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the respect of values of individuals and
communities as well as the physical, material, and psychological integrity of
individuals; and
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strict enforcement of norms of transparency and
accountability.
Safety can be achieved by acting on structures,
environments, and attitudes and behaviours. This can be affected by:
-
sharing information on risk and options for
risk control between the public and political, professional, scientific, and
community groups;
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concerted actions to maximise levels of safety
achievable under the given conditions;
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adequate mechanisms for allocating resources
for those in need and for resolution of conflicting interests; and
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legal bases for ensuring accountability of
individuals, organisations and governments at all levels.
The
attendees of the 5th World Conference on Injury Prevention and
Control declare their support for Safety as a Human Right because
A. Injury is a huge burden as measured by disability-adjusted life years
and as reflected in the burden of violence (as quantified in the WHO World
Report on Violence).
B. It is important to look holistically at safety because of the increase
in complexity and interdependence of many related issues that interact with
safety, including health, the environment, peace promotion and war, economic
well being and development.
C. The notion of Safety as a Human Right is an important policy tool for
injury control and safety promotion. It
is a way to bring together the Injury Control community and the Human Rights
community for collective action that can be more effective than separate
communities or individuals acting alone.
D. The individuals or organisations represented at this 5th
World Conference have much to contribute to developing a document elaborating
the Right to Safety. Thiss document
will be presented for discussions and adoption in 2002 at the 6th
World Conference and hopefully a document to support collective action through
the United Nations and the WHO.
A. The declaration should be widely disseminated among institutions and
non-governmental organisations which should be asked
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to send their support for this declaration to
South Asia Forum for Human Rights (SAFHR); and
-
whether they are interested in taking part in
developing the charter on Peoples’ Right to Safety.
B. The draft of the Charter for Peoples’ Right to Safety developed by SAFHR
should be distributed to those who want to take part in this exercise.
C. Revision of the charter should be co-ordinated by SAFHR in collaboration
with the WHO Collaborating Centres.
D.
A revised version of the charter should be
presented to the WHO Executive Board in January 2001 so that it may be
presented before the World Health Assembly in May 2001.
E.
Develop a final document on Peoples’ Right to
Safety for presentation at the 6th World Conference on Injury
Prevention and Control to be held in Montreal in 2002.