The term human rights is so commonly used these days that often we don't stop to think of what it really means. Human rights by definition belong to everybody and have practical application in everyday life. These rights are human and it is the individual lives that give meaning and expression to these rights.

If human rights are to have any meaning, it must make a difference to individual lives. If human rights are so basic and so universal that governments are willing to guarantee them through covenants, then they must also be enforceable by ordinary citizens in the ordinary courts.

Of all forms of human rights, nothing can be more basic than that of the right to life and to survival. A natural extension to these rights is the individual's right of development.

Human rights must make a real difference in the quality of life of the individual. For what is the right to live or to survive, if an individual does not have the means of sustaining life? What is the meaning of living without the opportunity to develop and to improve one's quality of life?

Development of the individual leads to greater self sufficiency and self sufficiency leads to less dependency on social security. Anti - poverty measures are directly pegged to the capacity of the individual to develop. The ultimate value of economic, social and cultural rights is to enhance the human capital and to sustain the development of a community.

The process of globalisation has had a dramatic impact on the world economy. In recent years there has been a backlash against globalisation because economic progress is not evenly dispersed. The gaps between rich and poor countries, and the rich and the poor within countries, have grown.

Human rights considerations have now begun to impact upon global regulatory bodies and international trade negotiations, in corporate boardrooms and in courtrooms in a way that will make them not just relevant but, hopefully, binding.

The United Nations in 1999 initiated a Global Compact calling upon the business community to support and respect human rights and eliminate discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

The World Bank has also initiated an institution–building agenda within its aid programs for developing nations, such as instituting judicial reforms for the protection of human rights and the attainment of sustainable and broad-based economic growth.

International law has now also raised the prospect of using international human rights laws, such as the right to health, to mitigate against the restrictions created by patented drugs for HIV/AIDS treatment and allow generic drugs to be produced. This is one example where the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights can be used as a shield against the encroachment of unmitigated globalisation and patented monopolies.

Increasingly, the courts are expected to be an agent for the enforcement of international covenant obligations. Rights must be justiciable and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights explicitly requires that 'any person whose rights or freedoms are violated shall have an effective remedy...'.

The concluding observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights after the hearing on Hong Kong in Geneva last April also made it clear that the provisions of the covenant constitute a legal obligation on the part of State parties. The Committee urged the HK government not to argue in court proceedings that the Covenant is only "promotional " or "aspirational" in nature.

The Hong Kong government gave "assurance that all rights enshrined in the Covenant contain certain justiciable aspects". The Committee also noted "with satisfaction that the Covenant is invoked in Hong Kong courts."

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has also made it clear that the HK government's failure to enact a race law is a breach of its international obligations. The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination obliges the government to prohibit discrimination on the ground of race.

Experts in international law have suggested that a government may be liable vicariously for violation of rights in the private sector. Conceivably a victim of race discrimination in the private sector may sue the government because it has failed to enact a specific law to prohibit discrimination on the ground of race.

In the corporate world social expectations have changed dramatically in recent years. Market share and brand name depend on consumer acceptance of the way a company does business. Last year, a survey conducted by Edelman PR Worldwide found that non-government organisations, such as Greenpeace and Amnesty International, have earned a greater level of trust than some of the most well respected multinational companies. Ethical investment is now becoming a real business.

We now have different global indexes and studies tracking sustainability and social accountability in the world of business. The Dow Jones Sustainability Group Indexes (1999) track the performance of companies in terms of economic, environmental and social criteria. Correlation has now been made of the Standard & Poor's 500 companies showing higher annualised returns for companies that practise diversity policies. Social audits of companies are now undertaken to meet the demand of shareholders for ethical investment. Influential, non-aligned watchdogs that scrutinise the social responsibility performances of corporations now include Business for Social Responsibility in the US, Corporate Social Responsibility – Europe and specialised units within Amnesty International and the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights. In the UK, some 700 companies have joined a "Business in the Community" campaign, committed to creating a positive impact on society. Many of these companies have also formed a network, "Race for Opportunity", to work on race and diversity as a business agenda.

The global business can bring in a large body of policies to benefit the local economy. For instance, a business can upgrade local skills through training on the job. Shell Brazil was honoured as a "Child's Friend Company" for its corporate policy of not doing business with companies that use child labour. Business can be an agent and a partner for societal development. Increasingly human rights advocates have come to recognise this value as businesses have come to recognise that social accountability is a tool for improving business performance and sustainability. The fact is: business does impact on individuals, communities and the environment.

Professor Amartya Sen, the 1998 Nobel Laureate for Economics, argued for concentrating on the equity and efficiency of social arrangements in promoting freedom to achieve objectives and capabilities of individuals. To borrow his words:

"The rewards of human development go…well beyond the direct enhancement of quality of life, and include also its impact on people's direct productive abilities and thus on economic growth on a widely shared basis…."

Human rights is about the business of people and human rights is not just an agenda for some but must be made a business for all.

The media has a powerful role to play in heightening awareness of human rights and in the process to demystify human rights. We will all be enriched by making human rights common place.

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