Patents on the soles of your shoes...: Human Rights Day 2021

Today, the world celebrated the seventy-third anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, on December 10th, 1948, in the aftermath of the atrocities of World War II. The document is crucially important as it is considered at the foundation of International Human Rights Law.

In the post-World War II context, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights spelled out "the value of a human being by virtue of existence, in abstraction of worldly powers" (History of the Declaration). A value that comprises many inalienable rights, including, for example, the right to live free from fear, want and oppression, as well as the right to develop one’s potential.

In 1989, the world recognized that children were also human beings with inalienable rights, separate from their parents, and from the adult world, which begins at 18 years of age. This commitment, to protect and fulfill the child’s human rights, was set forth within the legal framework of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by the UN General Assembly, on November 20th, 1989.

Similarly, at the United Nations’ Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, on September 4th to 15th, 1995, the relevance of human rights to women’s rights was specifically set forth in Article 9 of the Conference Platform Declaration for Action, as follows.

“Ensure the full implementation of the human rights of women and of the girl child as an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

A platform that ushered in a new era of human rights action, specifically on behalf of women and the girl child.

In December 2021, the Human Rights Watch organization reported on a plethora of human rights violations. Below, a sample list of some of the crises in focus.

Barriers to universal access to COVID-19 vaccinations, testing and treatment.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on poverty and education.
The increasing death toll among undocumented immigrants, attempting perilous journeys by sea in Europe, and under exploitative and inhuman conditions from Central America and Mexico to the Southwest border of the US.
The movement to find alternatives to undocumented immigrant detention.
The degrading treatment of immigrant children and adults in various host countries.
Backlash against women’s rights, for example in Afghanistan, or as related to the surge of violence in homes, due to the COVID-19 pandemic (UN Women Joint Statement).
Civil war crimes in the Northern Tigray and Amhara regions of Ethiopia.
Repression in Afghanistan.
The Myanmar military coup, resulting in brutal repression of peaceful anti-coup protesters, and the use of force, continuing to drive the Rohingya population into refugee camps.
The “strike hard against violent terrorism” campaign in China’s Xinjiang region, to manage ethnically diverse populations.
The “drug war” in the Philippines.
Widespread famine in Ethiopia, Madagascar, Yemen and South Sudan, as well as on-going in the Central Republic of Africa, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Apathy in the face of climate change, which has already caused a significant toll on lives, health and livelihoods, and the creation of a new class of climate refugees.
Documentation of abuses carried out on international Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) populations.
Investigations of disappearances in conflict zones.
The impact of misinformation on human rights.

plus more…

References

Chomsky, A. (2014). Undocumented: How immigration became illegal. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

Youth for Human Rights https://tinyurl.com/h2bryypj

Human Rights Watch https://tinyurl.com/2p8hzhu2

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)
https://www.unicef.org/child-rights-convention/convention-text (full text, English version)
https://www.unicef.org/child-rights-convention#learn (About)

UN Platform Declaration at the Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women (1995)
https://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/platform/declar.htm (full text, English version)

UN Human Rights Day (Dec. 10, 2021) https://tinyurl.com/2etca6dp

UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights (full text, English version)

https://www.un.org/en/about-us/udhr/history-of-the-declaration (History of the Declaration)

https://www.un.org/en/udhr-video/ (Multilingual video collection)

UN Women Joint Statement on Human Rights Day 2021 https://tinyurl.com/2p9yse3f