Human Rights Day

Human Rights Day is celebrated on Dec. 10, recalling the day when the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. 

Two years later a resolution was adopted inviting all interested States and organisations to celebrate Human Rights Day every year. This celebration indicates that, at least once a year, all world citizens are called to defend Human Rights because we are all born equal and are equal and there should not be any differences among people of different countries. 

There should also be no differences because someone thinks differently or practices a different religion, which comes from a minority ethnicity or speaks a different language or has more or less material goods.

All human beings have the rights set forth in the Universal Declaration. There is no need for differences because the fact of being born in the same human community, which is humanity, gives us the possibility to enjoy the rights defined in the Declaration.

Belonging to the same universal community unites us, it does not divide us, and so we owe each other respect and equal treatment.

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. (First article of the Declaration)

Celebrating the Universal Day of Human Rights means that we are called to defend our own rights, since they are all, like we have said, inherent to the person. It also means that we must respect each other because respect is the basis of the enjoyment of our rights.

It also means that we have to remember people who have their rights violated and feel discriminated against in comparison to their peers, which are surmountable situations.

It also means that we have to defend all people that do not have enough knowledge to reclaim their rights. It also means that we should do enough to avoid that there are people in the world that live with one dollar and a half a day. It also means providing drinking water to all those who need it. It also means we should look for peace and coexistence among all the peoples.

We, Marists, commit ourselves to promoting and defending children’s rights that are specified in the Convention on the Rights of the Child so that they can enjoy a better world for them. We seek equality among all the children worldwide and we defend them against any type of aggression.

We teach them what their rights are so they can exercise them in freedom. We eliminate all kinds of discrimination between them and we try to leave them in inheritance a world a little better than they have found.