Shillong, Dec 08: Human Rights Day is observed on 10 December every year. It was on 10 December, 1948 that the United Nations General Assembly had adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and Human Rights Day (HRD) was formally established during the 317th plenary meeting of the U. N. General Assembly held on 4 December, 1950.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a milestone document proclaiming the inalienable rights entitled by every human being, “regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”
Subsequently, the International Bill of Human Rights which comprises of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) adopted in 1966 along with UDHR adopted in 1948, came into force since 1976 as many countries had ratified them.
The 2020 theme is “Recover Better – Stand Up for Human Rights” In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to be focussed on rebuilding back and better by “ensuring (that) Human Rights are central to recovery efforts.”
To reach our common goals, it is of prime requisite that equal opportunities for all are provided and ensured, “address the failures exposed and exploited by COVID-19 and apply human rights standards to tackle entrenched, systematic, and intergenerational inequalities, exclusion and discrimination.”
On this day (10/12/2020), we need “to reaffirm the importance of human rights in rebuilding the world we want, the need for global solidarity as well as our interconnectedness and shared humanity.”
“Without human rights, we cannot hope to achieve sustainable development. Human Right is Central. Therefore, we have to (a) end discrimination of any kind; (b) address inequalities; (c) encourage participation and solidarity and; (d) promote sustainable development”.
“Where, after all, do universal 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 little meaning anywherere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.”
Mr. Eleanor Roosevelt, Chairperson of the Drafting Committee on UDHR and was awarded posthumously the U. N. Human Rights Prize in 1968) Come each and every one, let us observe this day the 10th of December, and in the evening, before the sun sets, hold Silent Candlelight Vigil wherever you are, in a group of not more 30 persons with adhering to social/physical distance and wearing face mask.
If you are in Shillong, you are welcome to participate in the Silent Candlelight Vigil at the lawns of All Saints Cathedral between 4:15 and 5:30 PM. Of course, SPP will be kept said Dr P.B.M Basaiawmoit on behalf of the North East Soilidarity in the press statement today.
