Johannesburg, Monday 10 December 2018 – Today South Africa joins the international community to commemorate International Human Rights Day which is observed annually on 10 December and marks the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
This year, Human Rights Day marks the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a milestone document that proclaimed the inalienable rights which everyone is inherently entitled to as a human being — regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
On 10 December 1948, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and on the same day in 1996, the Constitution of South Africa was signed into law by former South African President Nelson Mandela.
Ms Thoko Modise, GM for Communications for Brand South Africa said: “Premised on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, South Africa has included amalgamated human rights in our own Bill of Rights, Chapter 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. The Bill of Rights widely addresses South Africa’s history of oppression, colonialism, slavery, racism and sexism and other forms of human violations. It embeds the rights of all people in our country as an enduring affirmation of the democratic values of human dignity, equality and freedom.
“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights empowers us all. The principles enshrined in the Declaration are as relevant today as they were in 1948. We need to stand up for our own rights and those of others. We can take action in our own daily lives, to uphold the rights that protect us all and thereby promote the kinship of all human beings.”
As the world marks 70 years of the adoption of the UDHR, the UN’s year-long campaign #StandUp4HumanRights draws to a close. Through this campaign, the UN to ‘called on people to take action for greater freedoms, stronger respect and more compassion for the rights of others’.
Today also marks the end of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, a campaign that is steered towards the elimination of violence against women and girls.
“As Brand South Africa – we encourage citizens and leaders everywhere to heed the call and stand up for all human rights – civil, political, economic, social and cultural – and for the values that underpin our hopes for a fairer, safer and better world for all,” concluded Modise.
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