It was back in 1950 when the UN General Assembly proclaimed December 10 as Human Rights Day.
The aim was to bring international attention to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations.
Fast forward 65 years to this year’s Human Rights Day, which features the slogan, Our Rights. Our Freedoms. Always. This promotes the idea that every day is Human Rights Day.
This year’s Human Rights Day marks the launch of a one-year campaign commemorating two international treaties adopted 50 years ago. The Two Human Rights Covenants are the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both adopted in 1966.
In 2015, the focus is on “freedoms” – recalling the four freedoms of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and two major human rights covenants. This was first articulated in 1941 by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his “four freedoms speech” to the US Congress.
The four freedoms are: freedom from fear, freedom of speech, freedom of worship and freedom from want.
The International Bill of Human Rights consists of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its two Optional Protocols.
According to the United Nations, Human Rights Day “celebrates the fundamental proposition in the Universal Declaration that each one of us, everywhere, at all times is entitled to the full range of human rights, that human rights belong equally to each of us and bind us together as a global community with the same ideals and values.”
This year also marks the first year of operation for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. This historic event along with other activities have put the city in a position of leadership in the area of human rights.
On this Human Rights Day 2015, CNC asks a number of Winnipeggers what the concept of human rights means to them. Here are some of their answers:
