Human rights still not a reality for all, top UN official says
(December 10, 2008) The promises enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights remain unfilled for tens of millions of people worldwide, the top United Nations
human rights official said on the occasion of the landmark document’s 60th anniversary.
After World War II, many were determined to ensure that there would never be another
Holocaust and that everyone – especially the poor, hungry, displaced and marginalized
– would have institutions and laws to protect them, the UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights Navi Pillay told reporters in New York. The Declaration states that everyone
has the right to life, liberty and security and that all – regardless of race, gender,
colour, sex, language, religion or political opinion – are equal before the law.
“Despite all our efforts over the past 60 years, this anniversary will pass many people
by,” the High Commissioner said. “Tens of millions of people around the world are
still unaware that they have rights that they can demand, and that their governments
are accountable to them, and to a wide-ranging body of rights-based national and international
law,” she added. Ms. Pillay also stressed that the global financial crisis could
compound the dire situation faced by the poorest and most marginalized people around
the world, adding that poverty is both the cause and a result of human rights violations.
“We will need to be extremely vigilant over the coming months,” she said. Welcoming
the designation of 2009 as the International Year of Human Rights Learning, she encouraged
governments, teachers, parents and “others in a position of responsibility all across
the planet to take this opportunity to ensure that the next generation is given the
maximum opportunity to claim what was promised to them in that extraordinary document
known as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”