Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December - the anniversary of the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights.’
Milestone Document
This is a milestone document declaring the rights which everyone is entitled to as a human being, regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, including a right to education, a decent living, health care and a right to live free from any form of discrimination among others.
The Declaration sets out the importance of universal values and a shared standard of achievement for everyone in every country. Despite the efforts to protect human rights, we are all too aware that the hostility toward human rights and those who defend them, continues to rise.
2019 Theme: Youth Standing Up for Human Rights
After a year marked by the 30th anniversary celebrations of Convention of the Rights of the Child, which culminated on 20 November 2019, this year's theme aims to spotlight the leadership role of youth as a source of inspiration for a better future.
The aim is to celebrate the potential of youth as constructive agents of change, amplify their voices, and engage a broad range of global audiences in the promotion and protection of rights.
Youth were selected because:
The campaign is designed to encourage, to bring together and showcase how young people all over the world, stand up for rights and against racism, hate speech, bullying, discrimination and climate change. It is important institutions and society bring people, communities together, no matter the race, creed, religion, or religious persuasion.
Conclusion
We're all human, we're all the same. What matters is we come together with our cultures, our differences and work together to make ourselves better, and to make the world a better place, not just for us, but for future generations not yet born. (Source: un.org awarenessdays.com)
Yes, what it comes down to, is that we are all human and we need to get along. People spend so much time focusing on the differences between us, rather than concentrating on what we need to do, to focus on all of us being able to survive together.
I grew up in a world where we were made to feel like we didn't really have many choices in life, which explains why I have lived my life for far too long that way. We weren't allowed or encouraged to have any sense of our human rights. We were exposed to many human rights violations as children.
I definitely know what we should be fighting against, which happens to be so many of the injustices of the world, simply because people don't want to get along.
Thanks Randy. Yes, we all need to get along. Human Rights Day reminds us we're all the same underneath.
It'd be interesting to know what kind of things you struggled with as a child. Where you talk about a human rights violation Randy, not knowing I had cerebral palsy I suppose is one of those violations you don't is a violation.
The last 9+ years has been an eye opener for me. Not only around finding out about a disability I didn't know I had, but understanding and being able to piece my experiences together.
It's another reason why I wrote the book. I feel it's important for us to know, for us to understand ourselves. To understand why we turn out the way we do.
As a parent myself, I understand my role. It is important that as parents we become aware too of our children's rights, even if that was not afforded to us.