75 years of universal human rights

10 December 2023

Today is Human Rights Day. The day we celebrate, across the globe, the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This year is particularly poignant, being 75 years since this landmark human rights document was created. Often thought of as the grandmother of all modern human rights instruments, it marked a step-change in thinking about human rights post-WWII. It is the moment the world came together in recognition of the ‘inherent dignity and equal rights of all members of the human family’ as the ‘foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world’.

In these challenging times, it is important to remember that simple, but fundamental principle: no-one is left behind, human rights protect us all.

This year is poignant for another reason, with the anniversary falling in the midst of the UK’s COVID-19 public inquiry. If there was ever a time to remember that all of us are “equal in dignity and rights”, it is now. No-one should be treated as superfluous, no life is less worthy.

The words of Eleanor Roosevelt - a key architect of the Declaration - are as significant today as they were all those years ago:

“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person;  the neighbourhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.”

We are working hard to ensure rights are respected in our small places, here at home. In our care homes, and all other places where people get support to live their best lives. We might not think of them as ‘small places’ as they are the centre of our worlds. But, working together we can all make a big difference.