Human Rights Day

 From 2023:

December 10 marks the 75th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), also known as International Human Rights Day.

The 30 articles in the UDHR provide the bedrock for current and future human rights law and mechanisms by detailing the rights to which every human being is entitled regardless of nationality, age, gender, religion, or any other identifier.

This year’s Human Rights Day theme is Freedom, Equality, and Justice for All. (2023)

Despite progress made in the 75 years since the UDHR was signed, global events such as the pandemic, climate change, and government-sanctioned violence have highlighted the ways in which human rights continue to be threatened. This Human Rights Day, we look back on the work of our global partners in developing sustainable solutions that confront community challenges and advance social justice in relation to some of the articles of the UDHR.

Article 13: The Right to Move

“Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.”

More than 11 million people have been displaced since Russia’s violent full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2021. In response, local organizations across Eastern Europe have expanded their services to meet the needs of Ukrainians who have been forced from their communities.

Article 14: The Right to Asylum

“Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.”

Climate change, instability, and violence threaten the safety and security of millions of people in Central and South America every day, causing people to flee their homes in search of safer and more secure lives.

Article 17: The Right to Own Property

Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

The term loss and damage refers to what is lost and damaged due to climate change. Typically, when people discuss loss and damage, they refer to the economic casualties of climate change—building destruction, market disturbances, shortages—but loss and damage also includes the intangible items threatened—language, cultures, sacred spaces. These intangibles are property as much as homes and buildings are.