10th December is Human Rights Day
Dignity, freedom and justice for all

Ranjan K Baruah *

International Human Rights Day observation at Imphal on December 10 2022 :: Pix - TSE

Every individual on earth has human rights be it a child or an elderly person. Getting access to education and getting health benefits are also rights of our people. Human rights are crucial as they help in shaping the society and ensuring human rights means we are ensuring positive transformation in our society.

Human rights are moral principles or norms for certain standards of human behavior and are commonly understood as fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being. Human rights are inherent to us all, regardless of nationality, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948, was the first legal document to set out the fundamental human rights to be universally protected.

The UDHR, which turned 70 in 2018, continues to be the foundation of all international human rights law. Its 30 articles provide the principles and building blocks of current and future human rights conventions, treaties and other legal instruments.

One of the important events related to human rights is the celebration of Human Rights Day on 10th December around the world. This was the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the UDHR. The 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will be celebrated on 10 December 2023.

In the decades since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, human rights have become more recognised and more guaranteed across the globe. It has since served as the foundation for an expanding system of human rights protection that today focuses also on vulnerable groups such as persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and migrants.

However, the promise of the UDHR, of dignity and equality in rights, has been under a sustained assault in recent years. As the world faces challenges new and ongoing – pandemics, conflicts, exploding inequalities, morally bankrupt global financial system, racism, climate change – the values, and rights enshrined in the UDHR provide guideposts for our collective actions that do not leave anyone behind.

António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the UN in his message stated that “the world is facing unprecedented and interlocking challenges to human rights ,hunger and poverty are increasing – an affront to the economic and social rights of hundreds of millions of people, civic space is shrinking, media freedom and the safety of journalists are in dangerous decline in almost every region of the world, trust in institutions is evaporating, especially among young people, racism, intolerance and discrimination are running rampant and The COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased levels of violence against women and girls.”

He also said that new human rights challenges are emerging from the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. He urged Member States, civil society, the private sector and others to put human rights at the heart of efforts to reverse today’s damaging trends.

We should be aware that UDHR holds the Guinness World Record as the most translated document. Yet, far too many people are still unaware of their basic rights as human beings. UDHR empowers us all and the principles enshrined in the Declaration are as relevant today as they were in 1948.

It is the time that we stand up for our own rights and those of others. We can be voice and raise the concern or else just become a victim. We must be a voice whenever we see any violation of human rights.


(With direct inputs from UN publication )