Career option in Human Rights

Ranjan K Baruah *

Human rights are moral principles or norms, which describe certain standards of human behaviour, and are regularly protected as legal rights in national and international law.

They are commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights "to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being," and which are "inherent in all human beings" regardless of their nation, location, language, religion, ethnic origin or any other status.

They are applicable everywhere and at every time in the sense of being universal, and they are egalitarian in the sense of being the same for everyone.

Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status.

We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.

Some of the courses are
The Rights of Refugees,
A Guide to the International Courts and Tribunals,
Human Rights and Development,
Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Comparing Theory and Practice,
Investigating and Prosecuting International Crimes,
The EU and Human Rights,
Revolutionary Ideas: Borders, Elections, Constitutions, Prisons,
The Age of Sustainable Development,
From Freedom Rides to Ferguson: Narratives of Nonviolence in the American Civil Rights Movement,
Human Rights: The Right to Freedom of Expression,
International Human Rights, Storytelling for Change,
Introduction to Human Rights,
Human Rights Theory and Philosophy,
Confronting Gender Based Violence: Global Lessons for Healthcare Workers,
Workers' Rights in a Global Economy ;
Revolutionary Ideas: Utility, Justice, Equality,
Freedom; Gender Equality and Sexual Diversity,
International Women's Health & Human Rights; Human Rights Activism, Advocacy and Change ,
Freedom of Expression in the Age of Globalization,
Essentials of Nonprofit Strategy,
Human Rights for Open Societies,
Decent Work in Global Supply Chains, etc .

It may not be possible to get a quick job after having degree or qualification, so one need to take up challenges for few days. A Masters degree alone often does not set you apart to grab the attention of recruiters.

One must make the CV and add additional qualifications and skills to gain attention from the recruiters. There are many NGOs which offer volunteer option and also paid internship.

If anyone is interested to build a global career related to human rights then they may look into certain expertise and skills. One of them is knowing foreign languages. Many human rights jobs in the United Nations require applicants to be fluent in at least two of the six official UN languages Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

Knowing more of these language means more advantage to be globally placed and work with UN. Similarly global organisation and international organisation look for people with more proficiency in different languages.

We might be wondering what are the job profiles or job title related to human rights. Well, some of terms used are human rights activist, human rights defender, human rights advocate, human rights consultant, human rights campaigner, etc.

There are special agencies under UN which deals with human rights. OHCHR (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) has been focused with the human rights issue. All other organisation related to UN is also focusing on human rights.

Similarly there are many other organisations like Amnesty International, Oxfam, etc. Part from these there are many other agencies like for the rights of child UNICEF works with government and other agencies.