Human Rights Day, celebrated on Dec. 10, is an annual day honouring the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on Dec. 10, 1948.
The UDHR is a document that enshrines fundamental human rights that are unable to be taken away and apply to everyone regardless of status including race, colour or religion. It is also a blueprint for laws and policies at the international, national and local levels.
Canada celebrates this day by recognizing and learning about the UDHR and honouring the number of conventions and declarations adopted through the UN system that cover a spectrum of different human rights. Canadians are encouraged to take the day to recognize and honour various human rights that impact our daily lives and empower us to speak up for our own rights and the rights of others.
“It’s being creative in how you use the day. I sometimes see it as a conversation topic around your dinner table,” said Joan Broughton, an information officer for the United Nations Association in Canada.
The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) said their interpretation of Human Rights Day is to promote and enforce human rights, engage in relationships embodying principles of dignity and respect, and create a culture of human rights compliance and accountability. They do this by engaging in various educational activities and collaborative initiatives, such as public awareness campaigns, presentations, workshops, and conferences. They also participate in intergovernmental task forces and receive delegations across the globe.
“We have the opportunity to change perceptions by speaking against hate speech, correcting misinformation, and countering disinformation,” said the OHRC in a press release.
Regional school boards, such as the Waterloo District School Board (WRDSB), celebrate this annual day by bringing guest speakers or holding symposiums for primary and secondary students. They even formed a Human Rights Branch in 2020 to create and implement human rights-related policies and procedures.
“Human Rights Day is a day that we focus on and think about what human rights means to us as a school board specifically,” said Deepa Ahluwalia, a human rights and equity advisor at the Waterloo Region District School Board. “It helps us to put some attention on and focus on what we’re doing as a school board to build a human rights culture at the Waterloo Region District School Board.”
Deepa also explains that Human Rights Day helps create a working and learning environment free from discrimination and harassment by hosting workshops in schools and providing services from the Waterloo Regional District School Board’s Human Rights Branch.
Last year, the United Nations used the theme “Our Rights, Our Future, Right Now” to celebrate the day and is planning to reuse last year’s theme this year. Though the UN website posts different “themes“ to celebrate this annual day each year, Broughton said the themes used in organizational websites only celebrate certain parts of human rights. “The United Nations theme will always be broad because they leave it up to the organizations and the members of the states to say within this framework, these are our priorities, or this is the focus we want to put on it,” said Broughton.
She explains that Human Rights Day originated as a day to celebrate specific themes related to human rights. It’s a day when the UN focused on human rights as a particular issue in the human agenda.
“There is a long list of international days declared by the UN that cover a wide variety of topics,” said Broughton. “You define the agenda that you want to focus on that day that fits within the parameters of your focus related to human rights.”
