Editorial

Published date01 September 1994
Date01 September 1994
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1177/016934419401200301
Subject MatterEditorial
Editorial
Human rights play an increasingly important role in foreign and developing aid policies.
Recently, the 1994 Edition of the Yearbook on Human Rights in Developing Countries
was launched and presented to the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Kooijmans. The
Yearbook on Human Rights in Developing Countries is an ongoing project between
human rights institutes in Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands,Norway and Sweden. This
Yearbook supplies current information and documentation on the human rights situation
in the selected countries of Angola, China, Ghana, Honduras, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and
Tanzania. These country reports provide comprehensive assessments of human rights
trends including evaluation of economic, social and cultural rights, in addition to civil and
political rights. The thematic studies of this Yearbook include a critical appraisal of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, an assessment of the positive measures in
development cooperation, an analysis of the social cost of adjustment and human rights
protection, and a critical discussion of the integration of recognised human rights
standards into Eastern European national policies.
From the country reports it becomes clear that especially the position of women and
the rights of women are endangered in many of the developing countries.
In
this issue of
the Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, special attention is paid to the rights of
women. Firstly, an article by TWa Loenen critically examines the way the principle of
sex equality is interpreted by several international, (quasi) judicial bodies. The author
argues that the current, mainly formal approach to equality and discrimination is in need
of a fundamental reinterpretation towardsa more substantive one, as formal equality often
leads to the exclusion of persons such as women, who do not fit dominant models or
standards. The second contribution, written by Myriam Jacobs, deals with the UN
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and
especially with the issue of substantial reservations through which States Parties can
exclude themselves from the treaty obligations. The author tries to analyse the reasoning
behind the reservations in order to initiate the discussion about universality of human
rights of women.
Also in this issue, an article written by Ryszard Cholewinski is published, dealing
with the protection of second-generation migrants from expulsion under Article 8 of the
European Convention on Human Rights. While agreeing that the interventions of the
European Commission and the European Court in favour of one of the most vulnerable
and disadvantaged groups in Western Europe today are welcome and timely, the author
also argues that they ought to be developed into clear, uniform and unambiguous legal
principles. Such principles may be extracted from a number of separate opinions in the
jurisprudence of the Commission and the Court, which reveal a normative 'hidden
agenda' aimed at the protection of second-generation migrants.
On 25 March 1994 a discussion meeting was organised at Utrecht University on the
occasion of the honourary doctorate of Max van der Stoel. A summary of the
introductions held by Theo van Boven, Peter Leuprecht and Nigel Rodly can also be
found in this issue of the NQHR, as well as the annual state of ratifications of major
human rights instruments.
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