In a video message, the High Representative called on world leaders to use this instrument as a roadmap to prevent wars, combat hatred, restore trust and agree on a sustainable future for all.
“Let us strive to defend and promote human rights, freedom and equality for all.” “Together we can make the promise of the Universal Declaration a reality,” he said during the high-level event marking its 75th anniversary in Geneva took place.
The two-day event includes two important sessions for nations to announce concrete commitments to promote the protection of these values.
At his inauguration, UN High Commissioner Volker Türk warned of the numerous failures in the defense of inalienable guarantees in recent years.
“My thoughts go out to the millions of people who are suffering unbearably in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially in Gaza and Israel; in Sudan; Ukraine; Myanmar; and many other places,” the representative said.
The universality of the Declaration makes it a guide to solving the world's most pressing challenges, and its anniversary is a call to action to work together and base all decisions on the intrinsic and equal value of every human life, he added.
This instrument was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on December 10, 1948 and is the most translated document in the world, with versions in more than 500 languages.
The text enshrines the inalienable rights that every person has as a human being, regardless of race, color, religion, gender, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, economic status, birth or any other condition.
From access to education to equal pay, the Declaration established for the first time the indivisible and inalienable guarantees of all humanity as “a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations.”
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