Note4students

Mains Paper 2: IR | Important International institutions, agencies & fora, their structure, mandate

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

Prelims level: IOHR

Mains level: Bringing unnoticed HR violation reports to light

News

• The world’s first television channel dedicated to human rights was launched in London with a promise to deliver hidden stories ignored by mainstream media.

Human Rights Channel

• The International Observatory of Human Rights (IOHR) said its web-based channel would bring human rights issues to audiences in over 20 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.
• Topics will include refugees, press freedom and the incarceration of journalists, extremism, women’s rights, LGBT+ issues and the plight of the world’s stateless people.
• Programmes in the pipeline will look at China 30 years after the crackdown on the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests, the positive and negative impacts of technology on women, and the human rights implications of Brexit, Britain’s departure from the EU in March.
• Broadcasts can be viewed via the netgem.tv interactive platform and will shortly be available via a mobile app.
• Programming is in English, but IOHR eventually hopes to broadcast in other languages including Farsi, Turkish, Arabic and Russian.

About IOHR

• The International Observatory of Human Rights was established in 2017 in London as an independent non-profit and non-governmental organisation.
• The team is made up of human rights professionals, lawyers, researchers, award-winning journalists and academics of diverse backgrounds and nationalities.
• IOHR utilizes its unique access and the expertise of its multilingual and dedicated staff to advocate for human rights worldwide.
• It has created partnerships with local and international human rights groups.