Report: Human rights foresight offers ways to identify challenges facing human rights in the future

The Human Rights Centre's report on human rights foresight maps the field of human rights foresight and offers tools for developing human rights actors' foresight capabilities and resilience. The report also outlines different human rights scenarios placed in 2040 and assesses the impacts of megatrends on human rights regulation.

Foresight has not been part of the toolbox for human rights work before. We are living in the midst of uncertainties caused by many overlapping crises. Therefore, human rights actors also need to adapt and respond to changes in the operating environment and the challenges posed by global developments. Security and crisis management, preparedness and the need to strengthen society’s resilience have been brought up in a wide range of societal contexts.

The report on human rights foresight, resilience and preparedness during transformations in society identifies threats faced by human rights actors. By preparing for these threats, it is possible to strengthen the resilience and independence of human rights actors. In addition to the national human rights actors, the report discusses the level of individuals, the structures of the rule of law, civil society and international cooperation with regard to strengthening preparedness and resilience. The report focuses especially on the situation in Finland, but it also has international dimensions.

“The Human Rights Centre's report shows that foresight is becoming part of human rights actors’ tasks, but the foresight practices and resilience still need to be strengthened,” says Sirpa Rautio, Director of the Human Rights Centre.

Proactive human rights impact assessment is part of national security work. It combines human rights, the rule of law and democracy as the basis for a safe society for all. Foresight is used in strategic planning and preparedness to identify future challenges and opportunities for human rights. Foresight can also be used to assess the resilience of the content of human rights standards. The increasing examination of the rights of future generations in legislative drafting emphasises the need for foresight. The report on human rights foresight also provides tools for foresight experts to consider human rights as part of society's images of future.

Read

• Report on human rights foresight, resilience and preparedness during transformations in society (PDF, in Finnish)

Follow the launch

The report on human rights foresight will be published on 23 November.

• Follow live broadcast from 9.30 a.m. on 23 November (in Finnish)

Further information

Expert Lauri Sivonen, lauri.sivonen@ihmisoikeuskeskus.fi, tel. +358 9 432 3790