“Promoting and protecting human rights is inextricably linked with promoting and protecting health.” – Jonathan Mann, MD, Doctors of the World-USA Founder

This year, Human Rights Day marks the 59th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). A landmark agreement, the UDHR was the first document to recognize and enumerate the human rights and fundamental freedoms that belong to each and every person around the world. However, nearly sixty years after its adoption, its vision is far from a reality. 

Human rights abuses continue to negatively affect health around the world. Torture persists in more than 100 countries, thousands of women and children are trafficked for commercial and sexual exploitation, and millions live in poverty without access to health or education. Violence, discrimination, and apathy fuel epidemics, increase vulnerability to disease, deprive children of healthy development, and keep marginalized groups from receiving the most basic health services. 

The Right to Health

DOW’s programs address the critical nexus between health and human rights. From our Human Rights Clinic in the U.S. assisting torture survivors seeking asylum, to our programs abroad combating stigma and building access to care for excluded and marginalized populations, we are dedicated to achieving a world as envisioned by the UDHR. 

Women's Rights Are Human Rights

Although women compromise over 50 percent of the world’s population, cultural, societal, and religious norms have made them among the world’s most marginalized citizens. They constitute the majority of the world’s poor; they now make up half of all people living with HIV/AIDS; more than 500,000 women die in childbirth each year; and trafficking remains a pervasive abuse violating the rights and endangering the health of thousands of women each year. 

In Nepal, survivors of trafficking face threats to their health and well-being even after they escape situations of sexual exploitation. DOW is partnering with local NGOs to combat stigma and to create long-term access to comprehensive medical and social services for survivors. In September, DOW led a master “training of trainers” for Nepali doctors and other health professionals working with UNFPA. The new master trainers will now be able to teach thousands of Nepali health providers, enabling them to offer rights-based care and support for women affected by gender-based violence.

This September, DOW launched our Partnership for Maternal and Neonatal Health (PMNH) in the rural West Pokot district of Kenya. Deprived of access to adequate pre- and postnatal services, women and children in the district are dying unnecessarily – neonatal mortality is almost three times the national rate, and maternal mortality is approximately 36% higher than the national rate. DOW’s PMNH will build the capacity of the local health system to provide basic services and emergency care – services that all women and children have the right to access.

Discrimination and Neglect Fuel Epidemics

Undocumented and lacking guidance, street and at-risk children and youth in Russia and Ukraine and around the world are hindered from accessing available medical and social services. Highly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and other diseases, without access to health care, counseling, and educational opportunities, their health issues go undetected and their futures are bleak. With local partners, DOW has established a range of interventions to engage street youth and link them to life-saving treatment and support. Recently, DOW opened a Drop-in Center in Chernihiv, Ukraine, offering comprehensive medical and social services, and a halfway house in St. Petersburg, Russia, that provides a stable environment in which homeless youth can access support services that help them transition to independent living or a return to biological or foster families.

DOW programs mobilize communities to address and advocate for the health and human rights of even their most excluded members. Through capacity building efforts and local partnerships, we facilitate the development of sustainable health care systems that provide lasting care to the people whose rights are most often unacknowledged.