Human Rights Day 2022
“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 observed every year on 10 December — the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): a milestone document proclaiming the inalienable rights which everyone is inherently entitled to as a human being regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Available in more than 500 languages, it is the most translated document in the world.
Did you know?
- Everyone has the right to education; education has its very own article in the UDHR - Article 26.
- The right to education has been widely recognised and developed by a number of international normative instruments elaborated by the United Nations, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education.
- The universality of the right to education has been reaffirmed in other treaties covering specific groups, such as for women and girls, persons with disabilities, migrants, refugees, indigenous people and those who may face other forms of discrimination, and in other contexts, such as in conflict zones. It has also been incorporated into various regional treaties and enshrined as a right in the vast majority of national constitutions.
- International humanitarian law, which regulates the conduct of parties in armed conflicts, also includes provisions on the right to education and education more generally, for example, the protection of students, education staff and educational facilities.
- More than 100 countries have signed the Safe Schools Declaration, which protects students, teachers, schools, and universities from the worst effects of armed conflict, so that all can exercise their right to an education without fear of violence or attack.
- The Convention on the Rights of the Child is more than 30 years old(!), and it continues to call on governments to protect, respect, and fulfill the rights of children, including the right to education, as their obligation and duty.
Visit the INEE website to find out more about the right to education and how education in emergencies is a critical part of ensuring this right, as well as the achievement of personal growth, community development, international peace, and global development goals.
Happy Human Rights Day to all!