June 4th is National Cheese Day. March 8th is Woman’s Day. October 3rd honors poetry. But today, today is special (Woman’s Day is special too). Today is Human Rights Day.
Human Rights Day pays tribute to the Universal Declaration for Human Rights (UDHR), which was ratified 64 years ago on December 10, 1948 in Paris, France. Under the United Nations, the charter is a declaration that basic human rights are for everyone, no matter where you live or who you are.
The blogger for the United Nations (Yes, the U.N. has a blog. Who knew?) sums the day up pretty well:
Human Rights Day presents an opportunity, every year, to celebrate human rights, highlight a specific issue, and advocate for the full enjoyment of all human rights by everyone everywhere.
The UDHR was written and signed by 48 nations with 8 abstaining. At the document’s singing, one of the signatories, Eleanor Roosevelt, tells us that fighting for justice is for everyone:
Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.
If you’re interested in the UDHR, you need to watch this video. Made by United for Human Rights, the documentary is informative, brief, and basically everything you would want in a YouTube clip.
– Stew
(Photo Credit: UDHR.org)
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