By: BHS Features Staff
December 4, 2024
Everyone is entitled to their rights, so use this month to celebrate National Human Rights with your family and friends. No matter your race or heritage, we are all human.
This year’s theme is “Our Rights, Our Future, Right Now.” This means understanding and acknowledging why human rights are important, especially in our everyday lives, because all it takes is one voice to make a change for the better.
This month marks the 76th anniversary of the Human Rights movement. In 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, establishing universally-protected rights. These rights empower individuals to make choices, chart their futures, and live free from fear, harassment, and discrimination.
In 1950, the United Nations declared December 10 as Human Rights Day. Fast forward to December of 2001, President George W. Bush declared Human Rights Week, which evolved into Human Rights Month, recognized around the globe.
The Declaration of Human Rights was written in over 500 different languages and holds the Guinness World Record for being one of the most translated documents in the world. It is 30 pages long and includes many topics such as freedom from slavery, personal security, the right to education, and more.
Rights are for all, not just men. Women are leaders, too. Eleanor Roosevelt is well-known for helping to shape the Universal Declaration, but many women of other ethnic backgrounds also helped. Hansa Mehta fought for women’s rights in India in 1947. She is known for changing the Declaration of Human Rights line from “All men are born to be equal” to “All human beings are born to be equal.”
Later on, with Mehta, Lakshmi Menon continued to fight for rights in 1948. Menon fought for the repetition of gender-based discrimination to end. She also strongly fought for people to stop denying human rights to those who live in a country that is under colonial rule.
No matter how old you are, you can still make a difference. In 2012, Malala Yousafzai was only 15-years-old when she was shot in the head for speaking out about how she wants women in Pakistan to have the right to education. After her speech, a masked man boarded her school bus and asked for her, before shooting her in the head. She was rushed to a hospital, and she woke up ten days later in a hospital in England. Malala was informed of what happened to her by the doctors and nurses, while people all around the world were praying for her recovery. After months of recovery, Malala moved to the U.K. with her family and still fights for a woman’s right to education. In 2014, when Malala was 17-years-old, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. This makes her the youngest person to have won a Nobel Peace Prize. She was accepted into Oxford University in 2018 and graduated in 2020.
Having a month to reflect on how we treat each other, stand up for our rights, think about the freedoms that these rights give us, and help support and fight for human rights is crucial in bringing us together instead of separating us.
Do your part!
{Information is sourced from United Nations, Library of Congress, and NIC.}
THE RETURN OF THE EYE 