Human Rights Week Observed With Events, Campaigns
This year's Human Rights Day comes at a time when such issues are making headlines internationally and when human rights concerns are being raised across party, geographical and religious lines.
"Human Rights Day reminds us of all that has been achieved, but it should remind us even more of the ongoing relevance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and what still needs to be done to advance human rights," said Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO in a released statement.
Observed every year on Dec. 10 since the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, Human Rights Day is running this year with the theme "End Torture Now!"
Human Rights Week began on Dec. 1-2 with the 8th Annual U.N. Student Human Rights Conference in New York. Themed "Water as a Human Right," the conference focused on the Millennium Development Goal of environmental sustainability.
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Each year, more than 2.2 million people die from water and sanitation related diseases, many of them children, according to U.N.-Habitat.
The conference promoted awareness and learning on the inescapable reality of the need for clean, safe water. Students were prompted to take action on human rights as they developed leadership skills throughout the two-day annual gathering that began in 1998.
"Human rights education is much more than a lesson in schools or a theme for a day; it is a process to equip people with the tools they need to live lives of security and dignity," said U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2004. Last year's theme was "Human Rights Education."
Other scheduled events in New York for this week include panel discussions on "the Resurgence of Torture in the 21st Century and the Struggle to Combat It" and "Protection and Promotion of the Human Rights of People with Mental Disorders," and also a 16-day campaign on activism against gender violence that kicked off on Nov. 25 - International Day Against Violence Against Women. The campaign is sponsored by the Center for Women's Global Leadership.
This year's Human Rights Day comes at a time when such issues are making headlines internationally and when human rights concerns are being raised across party, geographical and religious lines.
Along with human rights abuses and religious persecution cited throughout the world, the issue of global poverty has largely been linked to human rights as well.
The Baptist World Alliance released a statement saying, "Today, the gap between the rich and poor in our world is wider than ever. The lives of vast numbers of people are controlled by global injustices such as poverty, disease, illiteracy and conflict, and the cry of so many is for freedom and justice.
"As Baptists we declare that our human right to life and to liberty is founded upon God’s commitment to all humanity. And as Baptists we believe that the coming of Christ is a message of hope and healing to a broken and suffering world."
The United Nations has offered ideas and ways to commemorate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. For more information, visit www.un.org/events/humanrights/2005.
