Human Rights Day 2009
December 10 – International Human Rights Day, marking the anniversary of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Genocide Conventions. But in 2009, as in past years, it seems that there is little to celebrate – another bad year for human rights. In Darfur, the Congo and elsewhere in Africa, mass killings continue, with relatively little attention from the media or the United Nations.
The United Nations marking Human Rights Day, the 61st anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, by stressing the still enduring need to eliminate all forms of discrimination.
“No country is free of discrimination,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a message for the Day whose theme this year is ‘Embrace Diversity, End Discrimination.’
His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Australia for a series of lectures on universal responsibility and the environment, and on today, International Human Rights Day, which also marked twenty years since His Holiness was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. At a Nobel Peace Prize anniversary breakfast in Melbourne attended by hundreds of supporters the Dalai said he recognized the continued discrimination of Aboriginal people.
The realization of all human rights – social, economic and cultural rights as well as civil and political rights – is hampered by discrimination. All too often, when faced with prejudice and discrimination, political leaders, governments and ordinary citizens are silent or complacent.
Yet everyone of us can make a difference. You are encouraged to celebrate Human Rights Day by advocating non-discrimination, organizing activities, raising awareness and reaching out to your local communities on 10 December and throughout 2010. Human Rights Day 2009
