United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk talks about the importance of the Human Rights Day on10th December
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts that have outraged the conscience of mankind. If leaders in politics and society would only centre their responses on human rights, solutions are always within sight.
Civil society, led particularly by women and young people, has changed the equation on the ground in Sudan and Ukraine, and I hear it every day. Journalists, play an important role in ensuring that large-scale human suffering does not go unreported.
In his statement Ukraine on Wednesday, HC Volker Türk of the UNHCR highlighted other worldwide crises, including Haiti, where armed gangs are controlling more than 60% of the capital and where 4.7 million people face acute hunger.
He said that human rights abuse in these counties he highlighted are a multifaceted and protracted crisis, but that solutions exist. The root causes of the crisis he said were social inequalities, rampant corruption, collusion between powerful elites and gang leaders, and endemic impunity, all of these factors should be addressed.
Yemen’s conflict and the bombimg of it by Saudi Forces must be brought to an end. Humanitarian actors must continue working unhindered, and their freedom of movement must be ensured.
Afghanistan’s systematic exclusion of women and girls from virtually all aspects of life is unparalleled in this world. the UNHCR urges the de facto authorities to abolish the death penalty.
Five years after the start of the conflict in Cabo Delgado, Northern Mozambique, civilians continue to be killed, and subject to sexual violence, abductions, enforced disappearances, with ongoing destruction of property.
Somalia is facing a humanitarian catastrophe amid the longest and most severe drought in recent history. The recorded casualties are 51% higher than those during the same period last year.
These crises have severe consequences for the people directly affected, but are likely to have ripple effects across borders, and risk further destabilizing their regions. They are marked by interlocking human rights violations, such as persistent racial and other forms of discrimination, violent crackdowns on dissent, and violations of the right to an adequate standard of living.
Globally, we are seeing a crisis of trust in institutions that are supposed to serve people. The world must come together to protect our shared human rights values and our shared humanity. The UDHR 75 initiative will help to renew people’s awareness of and commitment to human rights, especially among young people, and to think in new and innovative ways about human rights challenges.
The UDHR makes it clear that human rights are universal and indivisible, and that they are the foundation for peace and development.
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