ABSTRACT
157 O ne of the central roles of the UN is to advance human dignity, which can be done through attention to human rights law, to international humanitarian law, and to humanitarian principles. This chapter describes and analyzes the explosion of UN human rights efforts since the 1940s. It also covers the basics of international humanitarian law, which is negotiated outside the UN but increasingly involves the world organization in its implementation and seeks to relieve human suffering. Humanitarian efforts may bypass discussion of human rights. For example, in the diplomacy of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe during the Cold War, some families divided by the Iron Curtain were reunited purely with the objective of achieving a humane outcome, sidestepping debates about rights to emigrate or to pursue family unification. Likewise, foreign assistance is provided for victims of earthquakes and other natural disasters at least in part because of humane considerations, regardless of whether persons have a legal right to that international assistance.
