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Together For A Just World
HUMAN RIGHTS DAY
“Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable
rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice
and peace in the world… Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms
set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind… Everyone has the
right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion… Everyone has the right
to freedom of opinion and expression… Everyone has the right to freedom of
peaceful assembly and association… Everyone who works has the right to just
and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence
worthy of human dignity… Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequ-
ate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family… Motherhood and
childhood are entitled to special care and assistance… Everyone has the right
to education… No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.”
These words are drawn from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adop-
ted on 10 December 1948.
The Declaration was a historic covenant shaped through humanity’s experience
of war, mass suffering, and destruction. It affirmed that every person holds
rights simply by virtue of being human-and it imposed clear, explicit, and
binding obligations on states and the international community.
Seventy-seven years have now passed.
Yet today, far from advancing toward the Declaration’s promise of freedom,
equality, and justice, the world has, in many areas, fallen behind even the stan-
dards of decades past.
• Wars, occupations, and mass attacks invalidate the commitments once
made in the name of humanity.
• Economic crises widen the wealth gap; inequality has become a defining
feature of the global system.
• Authoritarian tendencies and democratic backsliding severely restrict fre-
edoms of thought, expression, and association.
• The climate crisis is generating a new human rights catastrophe affecting
millions.
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