Even though the concept of human rights mainstreaming is not new to public
international law, it has recently gained increased recognition as a practical
approach for recognizing the linkages between human rights and other social
justice issues such as environmental protection. A plenitude of literature have
been generated on the need to recognize and enforce human rights standards
and norms in a wide range of issues including environment, health, gender,
poverty, food, water and refugee protection to mention but a few. Despite
the rapid ascendancy of the human rights mainstreaming concept, much
attention have not been given to the scope of human rights mainstreaming
and the practical aspects of human rights mainstreaming, particularly
whether institutions consisting of ?outsiders? to the human rights epistemic
community can interpret and enforce human rights obligation. Put simply, do
environmentalists, scientists and outsiders to human rights have the capacity
to mainstream human rights? This paper examines the scope and tenets
of human rights mainstreaming, it then discusses the practical aspects of
mainstreaming human rights into policy making, particularly how epistemic
concerns on human rights mainstreaming can be addressed in national and
international policy design and implementation.
There is virtually no aspect of our work that does not have a human rights
dimension. Whether we are talking about peace and security, development,
humanitarian action, the struggle against terrorism, climate change, none of
these challenges can be addressed in isolation from human rights.
