Default title

Message by UNESCO Director-General on the occasion of Human Rights Day
Paris, December 9 {No.97-242} - On the occasion of Human Rights Day on December 10, UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor has launched the following message:
“Human Rights Day this year assumes a special significance, marking as it does the start of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the adoption on December 10, 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“UNESCO - as its Constitution makes clear - was born of the same inspiration that led to the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was indeed the first international organisation to underline, by a special resolution adopted on December 11, 1948, the importance of the Universal Declaration for the totality of its programmes. UNESCO will celebrate this 50th anniversary with a series of activities designed to promote the observance of human rights world-wide. Under a Plan of Action adopted by its General Conference at its recent 29th session, it will be particularly concerned with assessing the state of implementation of human rights in its fields of competence, with giving new impetus to human rights education and with mobilising young people for the cause of human rights.
“The impact of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights over the last half century has been profound and far-reaching. This text has provided the benchmarks by which governance at all levels has come to be judged and has proved a powerful lever in the movement of political and social emancipation that must count as one of the major achievements of the century now drawing to a close.
“Yet continuing violations in all parts of the world are a permanent reminder of how much remains to be done to ensure the full and universal exercise of human rights. Discrimination on the grounds of race, national or ethnic origin, language, religion or belief remains widespread. International standards concerning the rights of women and their equal participation in all spheres of life are regularly flouted. The right to education continues to be denied to a large number of children, particularly girls. The freedoms of opinion and expression proclaimed in the Universal Declaration are too often curtailed or suppressed and those claiming them subject to persecution. Intolerance and violence, extreme poverty and exclusion, are a persistent reality in many societies, militating powerfully against the observance of human rights.
“The 50th anniversary is thus an occasion for redoubling our efforts to combat human rights violations and promote respect for human life, security, dignity and basic rights. It must also be the occasion for promoting peace within and among nations and in the minds of men and women everywhere. For peace - peace with and through justice - is the prerequisite for the observance of all other human rights. It is - as the international community is increasingly recognising - the supreme enabling human right.
“Strengthening and furthering the observance of human rights instruments is a task that demands the commitment of all. On the occasion of this 50th anniversary, I call upon UNESCO's Member States, National Commissions, UNESCO Clubs, Centres and Associations, the Associated School Network, NGOs, the media and the public at large to support and uphold the human rights and freedoms affirmed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the best foundation for living together in justice and peace in the century to come.”