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Home / Law / Social Issues / Defending Dignity: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights / Why is it important to talk about the UDHR now?

Why is it important to talk about the UDHR now?

Activists in 2019 talking about why it is important to talk about the UDHR now.
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This is the 70th birthday of the Declaration of Human Rights. When it was brought together it was a revolutionary document. It was the first time that human rights had been enshrined in an agreement and signed up to by a number of countries. Of course, subsequently, many more countries agreed to join. And it confirms what we know which is that human rights are understood to belong to everybody. People may deny that, they may try to take rights away, but the key thing is that in today’s world people do recognize and they behave as though they recognize that they have rights and need to exercise them.
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I think it’s important to talk about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights now because it is a standard document of how every human being should be treated. You know, it kind of displays the basic rights that every human being, regardless of whether you’re a man or woman, your race, your gender, whether you’re a child or an adult, should have. And when you start on a level playing field like that, if everybody was treated the same, in the way that is dictated to us in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, then we’d live in a better world, we’d live in a world where people are respected regardless of the views that they share.
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People have access to the same things in terms of education and healthcare, which is really important. You know, people get to decide who they want to marry, when they want to marry them and it’s not dictated by a higher power or somebody who is completely distinct from yourself, so that’s why I think it’s really important. It’s a document that kind of gives everybody the same rights and it gives us a level playing field that we can start and kind of embark on the world.
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So I think it’s really important to talk about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights today and particularly this year because it marks the 70th anniversary of the drafting of the declaration and it’s a really important document, it’s fundamental to all the work that we do here at Amnesty and all the human rights organizations and human rights defenders around the world, the document informs their work. All 30 articles of the declaration are absolutely essential
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to informing our activism and campaigning and all the educational work that Amnesty’s doing in partnership with so many different organizations around the world and I think it’s really inspiring work and I’m looking forward to another 70 years into the future.

In 2019 we celebrated the 70th birthday of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), and at this timely moment in its long history it is our pleasure to welcome you to this course that focuses on how the UDHR empowers you to know, claim and defend your rights.

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Amnesty International UK online course,

Defending Dignity: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

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This content is taken from Amnesty International UK online course
Defending Dignity: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
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