By Forest Whitaker
December 10, 2015
On this day in 1948, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, an extraordinary document that reaffirms the dignity of every human being and enumerates the “inalienable rights of all members of the human family.”
For many of us, the notion of family is especially important this time of year. In much of the world, December and the New Year provide occasions for holiday celebrations and gatherings with family members and loved ones. We hug our children close and pray for the best for them: that they receive a quality education, that they always feel loved and safe, that they are able to find meaningful work in their lives, that their voices can be heard.
On Human Rights Day, we are reminded that our families are more than just our brothers and sisters, our sons and daughters, our husbands and wives. We are all members of the human family, and around the world, there are too many mothers and fathers who will hug their children this New Year unsure of their futures—not knowing if their sons and daughters will ever live in a society where these basic rights are granted. Today, my thoughts are with those members of our family who struggle day in and day out to secure these rights for themselves and their children.
Eleanor Roosevelt, a champion for equality and the chairperson of the committee that produced the Universal Declaration of Human Rights once said, “Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility.” Just as we expect the best for our own children, we have a responsibility to demand these same rights and freedoms for children, women, and men everywhere on the planet.
Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to education. But according to UNESCO, there are 124 million children between the ages of 6 and 15 who are not able to attend school—about 12 percent of all school-age children.
Article 25 states that everyone has the right to a basic standard of living. We have made important strides in combatting poverty in recent years, but the World Bank estimates that over 700 million people still live on less than $2 per day.
Articles 19 through 21 state that everyone has the right to express themselves, to peacefully assemble, and to participate in their system of government. But in nations around the world, too many of our brothers and sisters cannot speak freely or take part in the political process for fear that they will be targeted for their opinions and actions.
We have a responsibility to these individuals.
The ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was a tremendous achievement. For the first time in our history, humanity came together and declared, in a single voice, that these are the fundamental rights that unite us as human beings—that a violation against one is an affront to us all, and that we are all watching to ensure that all people in all the countries of the world are treated with the dignity to which they are entitled. In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
As we prepare to celebrate the holidays this year, I hope that we are grateful for the freedoms we enjoy, but cognizant of those individuals in our own communities and around the world who cannot share in these rights. In 2016, we should resolve to help bring peace and dignity to members of our human family across the globe.