Yesterday, Wednesday, December 10, 2008, marked the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

According to a message from the office of the United Nations High Commissioner For Human Rights – which accompanied one by the UN secretary general, “On this historic occasion, we should reaffirm the fundamental principles” that the framers of the Declaration articulated.

According to the High Commissioner’s message, the “comprehensive vision of the Universal Declaration is a beacon of hope for the future – it contemplates a world with full realisation of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights without distinction, a world in which every man, woman and child lives in dignity, free from hnger in a world without violence and discrimination.”

The High Commissioner’s message ended with the words of the Declaration that “recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom justice and peace in the world.”

The full text of the UN secretary general’s message is reproduced below. On this Human Rights Day, we also celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Drafted amid utter destruction and destitution following the Second World War, the Declaration reflects humanity’s aspirations for a future of prosperity, dignity and peaceful coexistence.

Its adoption was a landmark.  Today, the Declaration remains a core part of the UN’s very identity. The challenges we face today are as daunting as those that confronted the Declaration’s drafters. We face a food emergency and a global financial crisis.  Humankind’s assault on the natural environment continues. 

There is a political repression in too many countries.  And as ever, the most vulnerable continue to be on the frontlines of hardship and abuse.
The luckiest among us, those who are spared the most negative effects of disaster, poverty or instability, cannot turn a blind eye. The cascading effects of abuse and indifference can eventually engulf the entire planet.

Rights, and especially their violation, must hold the whole world in solidarity.  On this Human rights Day, it is my hope that we will all act on our collective responsibility to uphold the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration.
 
We can only honor the towering vision of that inspiring document when its principles are full applied everywhere, for everyone.