Human Rights Day

Human Rights Day (10th Dec 2021)

“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

Human Rights Day is internationally observed on 10th December every year. It commemorates the day in 1948 when the United Nations General Assembly signed and brought into effect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Eleanor Roosevelt was the chairperson of the committee that drafted the UDHR. The declaration sets the standards for the basic fundamental human rights that everyone is entitled to, irrespective of their nationality, place of residence, gender, national or ethnic origin, religion, language or any other demographic marker.

Every year, a theme which resonates with the tenets of the declaration is chosen, such as ‘My Voice Counts’ (2012), ‘#Rights365’ (2014), ‘Recover Better’ (2020) etc. The theme for 2021 is ‘Equality: Reducing Inequalities, Advancing Human Rights’. In line with this theme, several events were conducted through the year to work towards it.

When we see a fellow-being suffering, being discriminated against or just surviving with the bare minimum, it is not an act of charity but our obligation to help them. If we, as individuals and communities, don’t stand up for one another, don’t bear each other’s burdens, it takes a lot away from our humanity.

Every person is equal in God’s eyes, created with equal dignity and moral worth. Those who are socio-economically disadvantaged and marginalized have had some of that dignity taken away from them. This is why the Bible tells us that when Jesus Christ walked the earth, he had deep concern and compassion for the lowly and afflicted. This could serve as an example for each one of us, and call for some introspection. Have we ever genuinely cared for someone who has no one to uphold their cause? What is the little that we could be doing today for somebody who is less privileged than us?

May this Human Rights Day fill our hearts with gratitude for the rights that we have received freely as a result of the struggles of the previous generations. At the same time, let us be mindful and concerned about doing our bit towards advocating and safeguarding the same for others around us who are deprived of them. Maybe we cannot do huge things, but as Eleanor Roosevelt so aptly put it, human rights begin in “small places, close to home.”

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