Human Rights Day - Born Free & Equal

One of the most crucial days in the calendar of international days is Human Rights Day, and it is celebrated on the 10th of December every year. This day is devoted to every human being on this planet, and it promotes equal treatment to them in every aspect of their lives. The day has seen many themes, and a new one is waiting to be showcased to the world. Being an international day, it’s a global event to be celebrated. This day has a unique signature which is, today the United Nations General Assembly has adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948. The UDHR is a text which asks us to respect the fundamental rights of all the human beings in the universe. UDHR is also the first global verbalization of human rights and can be termed as the biggest achievement of the UN. Human Rights Day is important in various ways. High-level political meetings are held, followed by cultural events and exhibitions which address human rights issues. These events and exhibitions are conducted to make people aware of their rights (social, physical, and cultural) besides ensuring their well-being.

The theme for Human Rights Day 2021

In 2020, the theme revolved around standing up for human rights and to recover from the damages that ensued in past years. This year the UN has ‘Equality’ as the theme for 2021 Human Rights Day. This theme is also relatable to article 1 of UDHR – “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” These principles (equality and non-discrimination) are the center of human rights. The 2030 agenda of the UN is equality, and they have a document stating the same. This document talks about the problems and the solutions of some heart-wrenching forms of discrimination that affected many integral parts of society such as women, girls, certain indigenous people, African descendants, LGBTQ members, migrants, etc.

The best way to eliminate discrimination and provide the same platform to everyone to fulfill the 2030 agenda is to have a human rights-based development strategy.

An economy based on human rights can fight poverty

Human rights are the way to go if you want to fight inequality, poverty, discrimination, and other social evils. These are a threat to human rights and violate them to a vast extent. To tackle them, we must look for answers grounded in human rights. We must incorporate those who are affected the most to come up with the solution to deal with these global problems.

Equal opportunities to every youth of the country

After two consecutive years of financial and health crisis, the youth is more prone to lose themselves in the hands of inequality. The only way to battle the inequality is to provide them with the opportunities to build themselves up. We need to protect their rights by offering them jobs they lost during the COVID era and protecting their social stature as well.

Some case studies showing the need for Human Rights

Struggle of Nubian children to get citizenship in Kenya

Nubian people have lived in Kenya for a very long time. They have inhabited the country for decades, but they fail to get Kenyan citizenship. They are not treated as Kenyan nationals, nor are they considered to be Kenyan people. Being considered outsiders, they are devoid of the basic requirements such as healthcare services and education. The case filed as Nubian minors v. Kenya challenged the second-class status of the Nubian people.

Anti- Roma discrimination in the schools of the Czech Republic

Roma children in the Czech Republic schools are treated as mentally unstable children and were shoved into the special classes held especially for them. Sometimes these children were sent to different schools called special schools. In 1999

D.H and Others v. The Czech Republic case was filed. It was the first case in Czech history that ended the discrimination in the country. European Court of Human Rights called it ‘Racial Discrimination’ in 2007.

Criminalizing slavery in France

A girl named Henriette,15, who came to France from Togo, is the center of this case. She was brought to France by one of her father’s acquaintances. She came to France under the influence of education she would get in the country, but what happened was different. She was brought in as a slave to work there. She wasn’t given any pay for the work she did. She worked for long hours, but no payment was ever given. In addition, she wasn’t sent to school to receive education for which she believed to have come for in France. After someone tipped police about her whereabouts, police rescued her from the place. After getting free, Henriette filed a complaint in the European Court of Human rights, claiming that the country failed to stop slavery and punish the culprits. It resulted in criminalizing slavery in France.

These cases make us wonder how much we need to protect human rights. Without human rights, you cannot justify your well-being and will be subject to immense equality and discrimination. Human Rights Day is all about preventing these things from happening.