Human Rights Day is commemorated every year all over the world on 10th of December. It was first announced to be celebrated every year by the United Nations General Assembly on 10th of December in the year 1948. It is celebrated at this particular date annually to honor the United Nations General Assembly for declaring the human rights universally. Human rights day was officially established in the meeting of United Nations General Assembly on 4th of December in 1950.
All the member states and interested organizations were invited to celebrate this day. The High Commissioner office of the Human Rights was awarded by the Guinness World Record for the collection, translation (around 380 languages) and distribution of the worldwide announcement of the Human Rights. At this event celebration, a global discussion on the human rights is also hosted by the High Commissioner through the social media websites.
Human Rights Day 2019
Human Rights Day 2019 will be celebrated on Tuesday, the 10th of December.
This year it will be the 71st anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This year the Human Rights Day was celebrated with the theme “Stand Up For Human Rights”. There were a series of events which were organised on the occasion and the final major event was held in Geneva. There was also a social media campaign which featured major public figures who joined their hands and stood up for human rights.
There was also a series of 14 spotlight events which took place in seven time zones around the globe. Each event was organised with a specific theme based on the location where the event was organised. But the common emphasis was on the human rights and how they help to contribute in the social development and in celebrating those who stood up for the cause.
A ‘Mobile Film Festival’ also took place in Paris in which was collaborated with ‘YouTube Creators for Change’ programme with the theme #StandUp4HumanRights, which was also the official hash tag for the campaign.
Hundreds of people joined hands and celebrated the Human Rights Day in New Delhi by spreading awareness among people about human rights and its importance to the society. Many social activists like Medha Patkar and Shabnam Hashmi also joined the celebration on the occasion
How it is Celebrated
The day is celebrated by organizing the political conferences, meetings, exhibitions, cultural events, debates and many more programs to discuss all the issues of human rights. Several governmental, civil and nongovernmental associations actively take part in the human rights event celebration.
Human rights day is celebrated by deciding a particular theme to make this celebration more effective and successful. Human poverty in any country is the greatest human rights challenge. One of the major goals of celebrating the human rights day is to eradicate the poverty from the life of human being and help them in getting the well being life. Various other programs including music, drama, dance, fine art and etc are held focusing to help people to learn their rights.
Most of the events held at this day are aimed to instruct people, children as well as teenagers about their human right. Some of the protest activities are also held in order to aware the people from areas where the human rights are unrecognized or disrespected.
Why Do We Celebrate and Objectives of Human Rights Day
Human rights day is the worldwide observance celebrated by the people all across the world to get the real rights for the human beings. This day is celebrated to improve the physical, social, cultural and spiritual well being and welfare of the vulnerable group of people globally. Some of the important reasons of why do we celebrate and objectives are:
> To promote the awareness about human rights among the people all around the world.
> To emphasize the endeavors of the United Nations General Assembly in order to progress the overall human rights conditions.
> To get together and celebrate in cooperation to discuss and highlight the specific issues of the human rights.
> To encourage the vulnerable group of people like women, minorities, youth, poor, disabled person, indigenous people and etc to take part in this event celebration and political decision-making.
Human Rights Day Quotes
“The real struggle for us is for the citizen to cease to be the property of the state.”
“Many of us persons of the tinted persuasion care about human rights and artistic freedom too.”
“To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.”
“The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.”
“Laws are silent in times of war.”
“Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave.”
“Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must — at that moment — become the center of the universe.”
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
“We are just two people. Not that much separates us. Not nearly as much as I’d thought.”
“No matter how pathetic or pitiful, every human is fated to have one moment in their lives in which they can change their own destiny.”
“Please use your freedom to promote ours.”
“The only way to make sure people you agree with can speak is to support the rights of people you don’t agree with.”
“Today’s human rights violations are the causes of tomorrow’s conflicts.”
“We believe that human rights transcend boundaries and must prevail over state sovereignty.”
“An injustice committed against anyone is a threat to everyone.”
“Together we can prevent genocide from happening again. Together we can make a better future for our children.”
“You are a human being. You have rights inherent in that reality. You have dignity and worth that exist prior to law.”
“Remember, the change you want to see in the world, and in your school, begins with you.”
“If the prisoner is beaten, it is an arrogant expression of fear.”
“It is hard to talk about a middle ground for something that is a fundamental right.”
“Health is a human necessity; health is a human right”.
Themes of Human Rights Day
Human Rights Day is celebrated with a special theme every year to raise awareness and instill the importance of human rights in the minds of the people. Following are the themes of Human Rights Day for each year:
- Theme of 2018 was “Stand Up For Human Rights”.
- Theme of 2017 was “Let’s stand up for equality, justice and human dignity”.
- Theme of 2016 was “Stand up for someone’s rights today”.
- Theme of 2015 was “Our Rights. Our Freedoms. Always.”
- Theme of 2014 was “Celebrating 20 years of changing lives through Human Rights”.
- Theme of 2013 was “20 Years: Working for Your Rights”.
- Theme of 2012 was “Inclusion and the right to participate in public life” and “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”.
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