Human Rights Day
On 10th December 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.
This important moment in human history is now remembered on that date every year and is known as Human Rights Day.
All children have the same human rights as adults. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child sets out the additional rights that all children have until the age of 18.
Childrenās rights are human rights so we can celebrate them alongside the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The aim of all human rights is to make peopleās lives better. In the Convention there are two Articles that remind us that human rights are the responsibility of the Government who must use their laws to protect rights and that rights are the minimum standard expected.
Article 4 (implementation of the Convention)
Governments must do all they can to make sure every child can enjoy their rights by creating systems and passing laws that promote and protect childrenās rights.
Article 41 (respect for higher national standards)
If a country has laws and standards that go further than the present Convention, then the country must keep these laws.
To help us reflect critically on these articles, try some of the activities below:
Activity 1Ā
Write a human rights song or create your own school human rights video to celebrate the importance of human rights and childrenās rights.
Activity 2Ā
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is the most translated document in the world and is available in more than 500 languages, including some audio versions. Click here to listen to the preamble of the UDHR in Urdu! To celebrate Human Rights Day, why not choose an article from the UDHR that is important to you and try to write it out in the languages used by the members of your school community?
Activity 3Ā
Create a Human Rights timeline to display in your class, highlighting key events in the lead up to the signing of the UDHR in 1948 and the adoption of the CRC in 1989.
