UNESCO launching 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will be launched at UNESCO (Room I, 9.30 a.m. to noon) on 10 December, Human Rights Day. Events commemorating the anniversary will take place over the next year, until 10 December 2008.

Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, and Bacre Ndiaye, representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, will open the ceremony. Two special guests, Karel Vasak, human rights expert, and Hector Gross Espiell, Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Uruguay to UNESCO, will then recall the drafting of the 1948 Declaration and UNESCO’s role in its implementation.

Beginning at 11 a.m., experts will debate future challenges, particularly regarding rights in UNESCO’s fields of competence, namely the right to education; freedom of opinion and expression; the right to take part in cultural life; the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications. Expected are Camilla Crosso (Brazil), General Coordinator of the Campaña Latinoamericana por el Derecho a la Educación (CLADE), Kwamé Karikari (Ghana), Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa, Virginia Bonoan Dandan (Philippines), member of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), and Yvonne Donders (the Netherlands), Deputy Director of the Amsterdam Center for International Law. A message from the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for the launching of the 60th anniversary celebrations will be broadcast during the gathering.

In his message on the occasion of Human Rights Day, the Director-General declared, “The Universal Declaration remains a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations. Human rights belong to everybody, and we should work together to transform into a reality the motto chosen by the United Nations for the 60th anniversary: ‘Dignity and justice for all of us’.”

The 60th anniversary provides an opportunity to mobilize the whole of the United Nations and to evaluate progress in respecting and promoting human rights. UNESCO will take this opportunity to assess the situation of rights in its fields of competence. UNESCO is planning two international conferences on the subject in 2008: one on human rights in the Organization’s fields of competence, the other on human rights education. In addition, the 61st International Conference of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which will be organized at UNESCO in September 2008, in partnership with the United Nations Department of Public Information, will focus on the celebration of the Universal Declaration’s 60th anniversary.

In 2003, UNESCO designed a strategy to give new impetus to activities in the field of human rights and better promote them. One of its key components is the strengthening of existing partnerships and the creation of new alliances with intergovernmental organizations, academic institutions, NGOs and other civil society groups. The fight against racism and all forms of discrimination, including against women, and the promotion of gender parity will be the focus of particular attention.

________________

Journalists wishing to cover the 60th anniversary launch require accreditation from the Bureau of Public Information.

• Author(s):Media Advisory No. 2007 – 86
• Source:UNESCOPRESSE
• 05-12-2007