"Equal and inalienable rights are not currently recognised for all members of the human family; an entire group is excluded from human rights protections, the future generations. Extending human rights coverage to future generations is necessary because actions and inaction today have, more than ever; predictable, profound, and permanent impacts on the human and natural systems within which people and communities exercise their rights".
Karen Moir's LLM Dissertation established a gap in universality of human rights law, and laid the foundation for the research nominated for the Innovating Justice award.
Read Moir's research on Intergenerational Equity here: Intergenerational Equity and Large-Scale Mining in Latin America: The Implications of Limited Human Rights Protections for Future Generations (September 14, 2012) University of Essex Dissertation. Available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=2286236
Although in its initial stages, the project has been accepted as the basis of a Visiting Research Fellowship by UNRISD who are working closely with UNICEF. "A nine-month initiative entitled “Aligning Human Rights Law and Development Policy to Promote Intergenerational Equity,” will tie an urgent, yet complex, issue to existing international structures and legal mechanisms that have proven effective at combating inequality and injustice for society’s most marginalized. A multidisciplinary dialogue that will raise awareness about the implications for conflict and chronic poverty, formulate appropriate responses, and advocate action."
For more information on the “Innovative Idea” award by the Hague Institute for the Internationalisation of Law.
United Nations Institute for Social Development: http://www.unrisd.org/