For Your Information
Celebrating International Human Rights Day
Today, poverty prevails as the gravest human rights challenge in the world. Combating poverty, deprivation and exclusion is not a matter of charity, and it does not depend on how rich a country is. By tackling poverty as a matter of human rights obligation, the world will have a better chance of abolishing this scourge in our lifetime...Poverty eradication is an achievable goal.
-- Louise Arbour, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
What are human rights?
They are rights which exist because you are human. Nobody has given them to you. Nobody can take them away. They are a part of being human. Therefore all people have them, equally. They do not vary with your intelligence or race or politics or gender. Some may be restricted until you are a certain age. But they are held equally, universally and forever. There are other limits on them they are not unfettered or unrestricted. Every right involves a responsibility to not act in a way which would infringe somebody else's rights. Also, the state may impose some limits on their exercise e.g. freedom of movement can be taken away for prisoners.
What is International Human Rights Day?
December 10, 2006 is the 58th anniversary of the adoption by the United Nations (UN) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). An Australian delegate was involved in the process of drafting the document, and Australia was one of the 48 original countries to vote in favour of the UDHR in the UN. The UDHR sets out a certain set of rights which are the basic and minimum set of human rights for all citizens.
Why celebrate International Human Rights Day?
Setting aside a day to celebrate, educate and reflect on the principles that form the UDHR means celebrating the rights we exercise everyday as Australians, and acknowledging that enjoying those rights carries with it the responsibility of promoting these rights for all people. Things that many of us take for granted such as the right to an education, the right to receive medical care, and the freedom to practise our chosen religion are not equally available to all Australians and people in other parts of the world. Many individuals and communities will be commemorating and celebrating December 10, and pledging a commitment to maintain and improve people's human rights wherever possible.
Source: Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
