ROLE OF NGOs IN PROMOTING AND PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS

Abstract

Human rights as the ‘Rights relating to life, liberty, equality, and dignity of individuals guaranteed by the constitution or embodied in international covenants and enforceable by the courts in India’.2
Human rights are necessary to ensure the dignity of every person as a human being irrespective of one’s race, religion, nationality, language, sex or any other factor. The concept of Human Rights are based on the assumption that human beings are born equal in dignity and rights as these are inherent and inalienable rights which are due to an individual by virtue of being a human being. These rights enable individuals to fully use their intelligence, talents and conscience to satisfy their spiritual and other needs. The idea or landmarks of elaboration and protection of rights of human beings have been gradually transformed into written norms, such as Magna Cartain England (1215), the American Declaration of Independence (1776), The French Declaration on the Right of Man (1789) and Bolshevik Revolution in Russia (1917). All these landmark declarationshave made important contribution in advancing the concept of human rights.
However, the human life and human dignity have been disregarded throughout the history and still continue to be disregarded even today. Discrimination in one way or another still continues to exist either due to ignorance, prejudice and fallacious doctrines which try to justify inequality. Against this discrimination orinequality against human rights Non- governmental organizations (NGOs) play a vital role, which is more accurately non-profit organizations who used to cover the range of organizations which go to make up civil society.These NGOs work for the welfare of human beings and for the protecting of human rights.