November/December 2008 Peace Makers
Every Human Has Rights

by Vicky Thompson

Human Rights Day on Dec. 10 has special meaning this year. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted on Dec. 10, 1948, by the then newly formed United Nations, proposes a broad range of political, civil, social, cultural and economic rights that while not legally binding, present an international standard for human rights.

On the 60th anniversary of the declaration, human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, Save the Children and UNICEF, are joining together to ask people around the world to sign a pledge to take responsibility for upholding the goals of the declaration by speaking out to protect the freedom and rights of others in the community.

"By calling on individuals to sign the universal declaration, we are asking the citizens of the global village to empower themselves and their communities by standing behind its values and goals. But we are also asking that one united human family join together to protect and defend the rights of each other," says Desmond Tutu, who is one of 12 world leaders among The Elders, which is a group of trusted global elders whose goal is to ease human suffering in the world.

The prestigious group, which includes Nobel Peace winners Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter and four other peace laureates, looks for new approaches to seemingly impossible global issues. They chose as their first mission to go to Sudan and three camps in Darfur to listen and to report on the crisis.

"For building a nonviolent peaceful society in the nations of the world, constructive work is integral. Violence cannot contain freedom. Freedom springs from constructive work. The nonviolent freedom society is not going to drop from heaven on one auspicious moment, as Gandhi said. Each nation and each citizen will have to build it brick by brick, by person to person. Constructive work is the milestone of peace and good relations," says Ela Bhatt, a member of The Elders who founded the Self-Employed Women's Assn. and has dedicated her life to improving the lives of India's poorest and most oppressed women workers.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights includes 30 broad-reaching articles that recognize that every human has rights, including:

  • Recognition of the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.
  • Disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of humankind, creating a world in which freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people.
  • All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience, and should act toward one another in a spirit of community.

To read and sign the pledge, visit www.everyhumanhasrights.org. Learn more about The Elders at www.theelders.org.