December 10th is Human Rights Day and it marks the end of a year long celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This is a very important issue that I have dealt with in several ways recently, and it is so important that I am going to revisit it again.
The official version of the UDHR can be found here and the simplified version (which is much easier to read and understand, trust me!) can be found here. In essence the 30 or so articles in the declaration tell us that each human being has the right to live and to do so peacefully regardless of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. So it doesn’t matter what you look like, where you come from, or what sorts of opinions you have or how much money and stuff you’ve accumulated, you still have the right to exist and carry on about your life in a manner of your choosing, within reason of course. No breaking the law, ok?
There have been all kinds of events ongoing this year to mark the 60th anniversary of this Declaration. To read all about what’s been going on this year to celebrate this incredible milestone, click here.
UN Human Rights website has an affiliated site called UN works, a youth oriented site, which provides information on what the UN has been doing, news and related materials on how we are advancing human rights around the world. It is definitely worth checking out, to learn more about the UN and what it does, it is a most valuable and perhaps less understood organization. It does some great things and we should all be more aware of it.
This international day was established to raise awareness of the fact that many people in the world do not have the most basic human right: to live and to do it peacefully without interference from outside parties. The day gives us a chance to think about those people who do not live in peace, and what we can all do to help change that.
What will you do to help protect human rights?
