Human Rights Day

Tags: Important Days

Every year December 10 is celebrated as Human Rights Day all over the world.

Important facts

• It aims to promote equality, peace, justice, freedom and protection of human dignity.

• Everyone is entitled to human rights irrespective of difference on the basis of caste, colour, religion, sex, language or social status.

• This day is widely recognised to raise awareness about people’s social, cultural, political and religious rights.

• The theme OF 2022 - Dignity, Freedom, and Justice for All.

Background of the day

• The day has been observed every year since 1950 in commemoration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948.

• World War II and it's serious aftermaths apparently necessitated the need to emphasize on the subject of human rights as the mass extermination of the Jews, people with disabilities, homosexuals and others by Nazi Germany shook the world. 

• These darkest chapters of human history reinforced the need to protect human rights against the inhuman abuses of governments and rulers.

• Eventually, the governments of various countries resolved to form an international body (the United Nations) to protect the rights of the people.

• The member states of the United Nations established a commission on human rights on February 16, 1946.

• The commission, headed by former US First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, drafted the UDHR, which was adopted by 56 member states on December 10, 1956.

What is the UDHR?

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) has established a set of common basic values regarding the humanitarian approach and the relationship between the state and the individual.

• It contains 30 articles that outline a wide range of fundamental human rights and freedoms to which all people from across the world are entitled.