The recognition of human rights and the weaving of a web of globalisation are probably the most important political developments of our times. For the past two decades, globalisation and human rights have been marching forward together, haltingly, not always and everywhere in step, but in a way that unmistakably shows they are interconnected. As globalisation has accelerated since the late 1980s, so too has the global trend toward democracy and universalisation of human rights.

Rahul Rai is an alumni of St. Stephens' College, New Delhi. His Selection as the Founder Director of Indian Institute of Human Rights (IIHR), New Delhi has been based on his knowledge of human rights education at Postgraduate level as well as the initiatives taken by him in the process of the establishment of IIHR in December 1999 and its inauguration by Justice J.S. Verma, Chairman, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on the occasion of Human Rights Day.