HUMAN RIGHTS DAY December 10, 2013: “Promoting human rights is one of the core purposes of the United Nations, and the Organization has pursued this mission since its founding,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his message for the Day. “Then, as now, the key to success is the political will of Member States.”

After the Second World War and the creation of the United Nations, the international community pledged never again to allow atrocities such as those of that conflict. World leaders decided to complement the United Nations Charter with a road map to guarantee the rights of all people everywhere and at all times.

United Nations International Nursery School children examine a poster of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at its second anniversary. (New York, December 1950)

 Eleanor Roosevelt regarded the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as her greatest achievement. Mrs. Roosevelt, widow of the former US president and a lifelong human rights advocate, chaired the commission that drew up the text of the Universal Declaration, and was recognized as the driving force behind its adoption in Paris in December 1948.

Human Rights Day stems from the General Assembly’s adoption the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 1948. The Declaration sets out a broad range of fundamental human rights and freedoms to which all men and women, everywhere in the world, are entitled, without any distinction. ... photo story of the Declaration’s birth.

  2013 Human Rights Day: UN pays tribute to activists, landmark Vienna Declaration

Honouring human rights activism, including the legacy of Nelson Mandela, senior UN officials today mark Human Rights Day calling for greater political will and resources to implement laws and standards designed to promote and protect the rights and dignity of all people everywhere. 

 

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

The world mourns the passing of Nelson Mandela, one of the greatest statesmen of the modern era. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay remembers her fellow countryman as a man who fought for dignity and liberty for all citizens, regardless of race.

 

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the World Conference on Human Rights, which led to the adoption of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, and the establishment of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to oversee the international human rights framework, promote human rights and protect individuals against abuse.

International Human Rights Law

The international human rights movement was strengthened when the United Nations General Assembly adopted of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on 10 December 1948. Drafted as ‘a common standard of achievement for all peoples and nations', the Declaration for the first time in human history spell out basic civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights that all human beings should enjoy. It has over time been widely accepted as the fundamental norms of human rights that everyone should respect and protect. The UDHR, together with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its two Optional Protocols, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, form the so - called International Bill of Human Rights.

A series of international human rights treaties and other instruments adopted since 1945 have conferred legal form on inherent human rights and developed the body of international human rights. Other instruments have been adopted at the regional level reflecting the particular human rights concerns of the region and providing for specific mechanisms of protection. Most States have also adopted constitutions and other laws which formally protect basic human rights. While international treaties and customary law form the backbone of international human rights law other instruments, such as declarations, guidelines and principles adopted at the international level contribute to its understanding, implementation and development. Respect for human rights requires the establishment of the rule of law at the national and international levels.

International human rights law lays down obligations which States are bound to respect. By becoming parties to international treaties, States assume obligations and duties under international law to respect, to protect and to fulfil human rights. The obligation to respect means that States must refrain from interfering with or curtailing the enjoyment of human rights. The obligation to protect requires States to protect individuals and groups against human rights abuses. The obligation to fulfil means that States must take positive action to facilitate the enjoyment of basic human rights.

Through ratification of international human rights treaties, Governments undertake to put into place domestic measures and legislation compatible with their treaty obligations and duties. Where domestic legal proceedings fail to address human rights abuses, mechanisms and procedures for individual complaints or communications are available at the regional and international levels to help ensure that international human rights standards are indeed respected, implemented, and enforced at the local level.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Article 1

• All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

The Golden Rule... Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

Live by the Golden Rule