By Carmen Sylva
We all have rights. Whether we are dark skinned or light skinned, short or tall, Christian or Muslim; we all deserve our human rights. This wonderful day, when we celebrate our rights, happens on the 10th of December.
Why this date?
Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December-the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, at Palais de Challoit, Paris after the experience of the Second World War, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): an important document stating our rights which everyone is inherently entitled to as a human being regardless of race, colour, religion, gender, language, opinion or birthplace.
Fact about the UDHR:
It’s available in more than 500 languages and it is the most translated document in the world.
What is happening?
This year the U.N. has a different theme. The theme for this year is: Youth Standing Up for Human Rights.
This year the goal is to encourage the youth to speak up about: bullying, hate speech, discrimination and climate change, to name a few.
Events taking place:
1. Cyndi Lauper will receive the High Note Global Prize
Pop icon and human rights activist Cyndi Lauper will receive the High Note Global Prize for her efforts to help prevent and end homelessness among LGBT youth. Lauper will receive her prize on December 10th at the Home for the Holidays benefit concert at the Novo in Los Angeles.
The award was created by producer David Clark, founder of The High Note Global Initiative celebrating artists who fuse music with human rights, of which UN Human Rights is a global partner.
2. Young Activists Summit - “Women and Girls Driving Progress”
On Tuesday 10 December 2019, the UN Office at Geneva, Swiss Radio Television (RTS) and Dev.TV, in partnership with UN Human Rights and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), will host an award ceremony that will give a platform to six young activists, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Nadia Murad. The six activists will present their causes to the public and debate among themselves. Each of them will be awarded for their outstanding dedication. The event will be live on the UN page.
3. The Photography 4 Humanity Global prize
The winner of the Photography 4 Humanity Global Prize will be announced on December 10th in conjunction with the opening of the Photography 4 Humanity Exhibition at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Photography 4 Humanity is an international initiative that calls on photographers around the world to bring to life the power of human rights through their images.
WE ALL HAVE TO SATND UP FOR OUR HUMAN RIGHTS!
“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home -- so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. [...] Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world."
- Eleanor Roosevelt
Source: The UN
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