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Synonyms

First World human rights organizations; Generations of human rights; Third World human rights organizations.

Definition

Human rights organization, according to Wiseberg (1991), is broadly defined as “a private organization which devotes significant resources to the promotion and protection of human rights, which is independent of both governmental and political groups that seek direct political power, and which itself does not seek such power.” It advocates its cause on the basis of international laws and aims to secure the rights for everyone in a society (Wiseberg 1992: 529).

Broadly speaking, organizations that advocate or promote interests under the four generations of rights, namely, (1) political and civil rights; (2) social, economic, and cultural rights; (3) solidarity rights; and (4) the rights of indigenous people, are deemed as human rights organizations (Vasak 1977).

Historical Background

Amid the rise of the concern for human rights since the end of World War II...

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Correspondence to Wai-man Lam .

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Lam, Wm., Yip, A.Wf. (2016). Human Rights Organizations. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3086-1

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