10 December 2016: Human Rights Day

Human Rights Day is celebrated annually on 10 December. The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. In 1950 the UN General Assembly officially announced 10 December as Human Rights Day.

The theme for 2016 is ‘Stand up for someone’s rights today!’

Human Rights Day calls on everyone to stand up for someone’s rights, such as respect, education, health, clean water, tolerance, etc. The aim is to reaffirm our common humanity – in the street, at school, at work, in public transport, in the voting booth, on social media, and so on. This includes rights for everyone, whether they are disabled, a refugee, belonging to a minority group, a woman, a child, an indigenous person, religious, an LGBT person, and anyone at risk of discrimination or violence.

United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said, ‘On Human Rights Day, let us recommit to guaranteeing the fundamental freedoms and protecting the human rights of all.’

Stand up for someone's rights today!

Follow #Standup4HumanRights #HumanRightsDay

Visit the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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