 On Human Rights Day 2007, the United Nations launched a year-long campaign to mark the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Universal Declaration, adopted in 1948, set out for the first time the fundamental human rights and freedoms to which all men and women, everywhere in the world, are entitled. It is the cornerstone of the UN’s work in promoting human rights and has served as the foundation for an expanding system of human rights protection.
The UN campaign is designed to help people everywhere to learn more about their human rights and understand the relevance of the Universal Declaration in their lives today. The UN website KnowYourRights2008.org is a portal for ideas and events taking place throughout 2008 to commemorate the anniversary year.
In his message on Human Rights Day 2007, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that this year is a chance to ensure that human rights are ‘a living reality - that they are known, understood and enjoyed by everyone, everywhere. It is often those who most need their human rights protected, who also need to be informed that the Declaration exists - and that it exists for them’.
As part of its commemoration of the anniversary, UNA-UK is running a competition which asks: who is your human rights hero? Send us 100 words arguing the case for a particular human rights champion, and you could win a free copy of The Oxford Handbook on the United Nations and see your entry published in our flagship magazine, New World . For more details, see www.una.org.uk/humanrightshero
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Resources
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
KnowYourRights2008.org
Universal Declaration of Human Rights: articles and background facts
UN Human Rights Day 2007 homepage
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The UN Secretary-General’s message on Human Rights Day 2007
“On this Human Rights Day, we launch a year-long commemoration of the 60 th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The entire UN family will take part in a campaign to promote the Declaration's ideals and principles of justice and equality for everyone.
The campaign reminds us that in a world still reeling from the horrors of the Second World War, the Declaration was the first global statement of what we now take for granted - the inherent dignity and equality of all human beings.
The extraordinary vision and determination of the drafters produced a document that for the first time set out universal human rights for all people in an individual context. Now available in more than 360 languages, the Declaration is the most translated document in the world - a testament to its universal nature and reach.It has inspired the constitutions of many newly independent states and many new democracies. It has become a yardstick by which we measure respect for what we know, or should know, as right and wrong.
The Declaration remains as relevant today as it did on the day it was adopted. But the fundamental freedoms enshrined in it are still not a reality for everyone. Too often, governments lack the political will to implement international norms they have willingly accepted.
This anniversary year is an occasion to build up that will. It is a chance to ensure that these rights are a living reality - that they are known, understood and enjoyed by everyone, everywhere. It is often those who most need their human rights protected, who also need to be informed that the Declaration exists - and that it exists for them.
May this year reinvigorate us in that mission. Let us make the Universal Declaration of Human Rights an integral part of everyone’s life.”
Ban Ki-moon, 10 December 2007
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About the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is generally agreed to be the foundation of international human rights law. Adopted almost 60 years ago, the UDHR has inspired a rich body of legally binding international human rights treaties and human rights development worldwide. It continues to be an inspiration in addressing injustices in times of conflicts, in societies suffering repression, and in efforts towards achieving universal enjoyment of human rights.
It represents the universal recognition that basic rights and fundamental freedoms are inherent to all human beings, inalienable and equally applicable to everyone, and that every one of us is born free and equal in dignity and rights. Whatever our nationality, place of residence, gender, national or ethnic origin, religion, language, or any other status, the international community on 10 December 1948 made a commitment to upholding dignity and justice for all of us.
Over the years, this commitment has been translated into law, in the forms of treaties, customary international law, general principles, regional agreements and domestic law, through which human rights are expressed and guaranteed. The UDHR has inspired more than 80 international human rights treaties and declarations, a great number of regional human rights conventions, domestic human rights bills, and constitutional provisions, which together constitute a comprehensive legally binding system for the promotion and protection of human rights.
Read the full article: A Magna Carta for all humanity
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How can I get involved?
If you are holding an event during 2008 to celebrate the Universal Declaration, please let us know!
E-mail website (at) una.org.uk with photographs and details of past or upcoming initiatives.
Here are a few ideas about activities for UNA-UK branches, regions and nations:
- Encourage your local council or community to adopt a local plans of action for advancing human rights, including allocating funds for activities such as human rights education
- Produce a compilation of real-life stories of people who are working to realise their human rights
- Try to place stories on the anniversary in your local newspaper or internet message board. Why not use the Human Rights Days messages issued by the UN Secretary-General or the High Commissioner for Human Rights?
- Encourage local/regional media associations to organise competitions for the best published articles on local/regional human rights throughout the year
- Hold seminars and/or speaking events that focus on issues such as the universality of human rights, their relevance in different religions, or the role of religious communities in the promotion of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- Host a film screening and discussion or coordinate a film festival highlighting one or several human rights
- Arrange a poetry reading evening with locals reading their own poetry relating to human rights, as well as featuring readings of well-known poets’ writings on human rights
- Ask local artists to create a piece on human rights and organise an exhibit to show the work
- Organise a human rights stand at international/national/local book fairs to disseminate materials on human rights
And here are some ideas for schools and universities:
- Hold conferences, seminars or training for educators at all levels on the Universal Declaration and human rights more generally
- Inaugurate an annual national human rights research award
- Organise discussion events, debates, workshops or conferences on human rights during 2008 with experts from the UN, academia, government, NGOs or the private sector as guest speakers
- Include specific activities on the Declaration in your curriculum. Make use of the human rights teaching materials available at www.un.org/cyberschoolbus and www.un.org/chronicle
- Organise an art competition asking students to illustrate articles of the Declaration
For individuals:
- Do you speak an uncommon language? The Universal Declaration has been translated into 369 national and local languages. Visit the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to see if your language is there (http://www.unhchr.ch/udhr/). If it is, the OHCHR has asked for feedback on the translation. If your language is not listed, then you can contribute a new translation. Help spread the word!
- Do you like to eat out? Now, you can help promote the right to food by visiting many great restaurants across the country. "Restaurants Against Hunger" raises vital funds for the worldwide fight against hunger, inviting food lovers all over the UK to help make a difference by eating out. Click here to find out more.
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Global Projects to celebrate the Universal Declaration
Below are samples of projects around the world planned for 2008:
Internationally renowned directors film human rights. A series of 18 short films on human rights directed by award-winning film-makers from different regions will be shown back to back as one medium-length feature in various locations throughout 2008, and will premier at the Rome Film Festival. The films will be distributed as public service announcements in cinemas and television networks worldwide. This is collaboration between OHCHR, NGO Art for the World, Dorje Films, and the European Commission.
Cartooning for Human Rights. The illustrations of the UDHR by 17 artists from Algeria, Belgium, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, France, Iran, Israel, Japan, Palestine, Russia and the United States will be exhibited in Rome on 10 December 2007.
Sketching Human Rights. A collection of thought-provoking cartoons from leading international cartoonists illustrating the UDHR at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The exhibition will open on 10 December 2007 and will travel to locations around the world throughout 2008. This is a presentation by the Cartoonists and Writers Syndicate.
Interactive dialogues on human rights . A series of interactive dialogues on human rights are being held between October 2007 and December 2008. Speakers will discuss new challenges and approaches to human rights with a view to improving synergy between the United Nations in New York, the Human Rights Council in Geneva, member states, UN agencies and civil society.
Vienna +15. At the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, 171 countries reaffirmed their commitment to human rights by requesting the creation of a United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Austrian Government commemorates the 15th anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Plan of Action next year.
For an updated calendar of events please visit: www.ohchr.org |
