Human Rights Day 10 th December 2015

Human Rights Day Human Rights Day is celebrated every year on the 10 th December, the anniversary of the day that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was accepted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The declaration is made up of 30 Articles, these include among others: Article 1 “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights“ Article 23 “Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.“

Why was the UN founded? The League of Nations formed at the end of World War One was supposed to deal with international problems but it was very weak and did not have enough internationally recognised legal powers to solve global (world) problems. In this cartoon US President Woodrow Wilson is shown handing a huge olive branch (symbol of peace) to a small dove (symbol of peace), the olive branch is also supposed to be the League of Nations in the picture. Can the dove fly with the olive branch? Does this cartoon suggest the League of Nations is up to the job of keeping peace around the world?

United Nations (UN) By the end of World War Two it was recognised the world could not carry on fighting more global wars, another global war could finish humanity. Coventry 1945 Hamburg 1945

The Holocaust By the end of World War Two the Nazis had created a unique event in world history: The organised extermination & torture of millions of people in an efficient factory style system. Deliberate Starvation of Prisoners Mass Grave of Nazi Victims

United Nations (UN) It was recognised that global peace & human rights had to be protected in international law. 50 countries founded the UN on 26 th June Today 193 countries are represented at the UN. The UN building is in New York, USA. Representatives from 193 governments of the world meet at the UN to discuss and agree on important global decisions and to uphold human rights.

Human Rights Today Human rights are celebrated around the world on 10 th December every year. Here is a video from the British based human rights organisation, Amnesty International, which campaigns to uphold human rights around the world. Burma (or Myanmar as it is officially known) is a member of the UN but has a history of human rights abuses:

Burma 2015 The number of political prisoners is on the rise with arrests of students, farmers, and community activists for peaceful protests. Parliamentary elections are due for late 2015, but there are serious concerns about the fairness of the elections. Approximately one million people have already lost their votes including Rohingya Muslims, many of whom remain in dirty camps after facing a government campaign of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity in Long-running fighting between the government and ethnic minority groups has moved over 150,000 people, army abuses include sexual violence, forced labour, and the use of child soldiers.