Human Rights Day 2009 to be celebrated on 10 December

Posted on | December 9, 2009 | No Comments

Tomorrow, on 10 December, the world will celebrate Human Rights Day, which this year focuses on the issue of non-discrimination.

Human Rights Day has been acknowledged annually since 1950 and is marked by political conferences, seminars on human rights issues, and cultural events and exhibitions. This year, the theme is non-discrimination, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon offered the following statement:

Discrimination targets individuals and groups that are vulnerable to attack: the disabled, women and girls, the poor, migrants, minorities, and all those who are perceived as different.

… But these victims of discrimination are not alone. The United Nations is standing with them, committed to defending the rights of all, and particularly the most vulnerable. That is our identity and our mission.

Discrimination hampers the realisation of both social, economic, cultural, civil and political rights, and is thus essentially a human rights issue. In addition, it is often met with silence and complacency from both political leaders and ordinary citizens – so the need to speak up is obvious!

The United Nations urges everyone to seize this opportunity and start making a difference on 10 December – to organize activities in order to advocate non-discrimination, to raise awareness on the issue and to reach out to your local community.

Minority rights, the problem of bonded labour as a form of modern slavery, and education for indigenous people are just some of the issues related to this year’s theme. Click on each link to read more about these topics.

More information about Human Rights Day 2009 can be found here.

Source: UN.

Written by Fanny Johansson

Comments

Additional comments powered by BackType