Human Rights Day is celebrated on 10 December. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a historic document that proclaims the inalienable rights of every person as a human being, regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. It is available in over 500 languages.
This year, it focuses on the COVID-19 pandemic: the need to rebuild for the better, confident that human rights are the foundation for recovery efforts.
Common goals around the world will only be achieved if equal opportunities are created for all, the failures revealed by the pandemic are addressed, and human rights standards are applied to address entrenched, systematic and intergenerational inequalities, exclusion and discrimination.
Human rights are the foundation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDAs) and the care of the Common House, for without human dignity, we would not have the hope of advancing sustainable development. Progress on all SDAs drives human rights, just as progress on human rights drives these goals.
(TO LEARN MORE: United Nations) (PHOTO: ©Getty Images/RyanJLane)