🗳️ Human rights have improved in all world regions over the past hundred years

🗳️ Human rights have improved in all world regions over the past hundred years

Human rights have improved in all regions over the past hundred years. Europe and Oceania have the highest levels of human rights protection. Africa and Asia have lower levels but have made significant progress.

Mathias Sundin
Mathias Sundin

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  • Human rights have improved in all regions over the past hundred years.
  • Europe and Oceania have the highest levels of human rights protection.
  • Africa and Asia have lower levels of protection but have made significant progress.

Human rights globally

According to data from Varieties of Democracy, human rights have improved significantly in all world regions compared to a hundred years ago. This is clearly shown in a recently updated graph presenting an index of human rights, reports Our World in Data.

The index ranges from 0 (least rights) to 1 (most rights), and all regions have achieved significantly higher values in 2023 than they had a hundred years ago.

Europe and Oceania

Europe and Oceania are at the top with the highest levels of human rights protection. These regions have shown steadily positive development over time, with index values approaching 0.8 to 1. This means that people in these regions enjoy a high degree of freedom from state violence, forced labor, and have extensive freedom of movement, religion, and expression.

North America and South America

North America and South America have also made significant progress. Although these regions have experienced periods of stagnation and setbacks, the overall trend has been positive. North America reaches nearly the same levels as Europe and Oceania, while South America is slightly lower but shows a steady improvement over time.

Africa and Asia

Africa and Asia lag behind the other regions but have also made noticeable progress. Africa started at a very low level but has seen a steady increase in its index value, which is now around 0.4. Asia has also improved, particularly after the mid-20th century, and now has an index value around 0.5.

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