Greetings and salutations to all of the students, instructors, and staff members present,
The speech I am about to give today is about the fundamental human rights that we all deserve. Our rights are sometimes regarded as nothing more than basic privileges, but I agree that they are more than that. Human rights, in plain terms, are the entitlement to the fundamental rights that are given to every individual. We are given these rights, which we retain until we die. These rights belong to all humanity who have survived on this planet. These rights are demonstrated to be successful for everyone, regardless of who they are, where they come from, or how they want to live. The purpose of these rights is to safeguard anyone who wishes to injure or violate another person. These human rights allow people to live and express themselves as they like. Human rights guarantee that everyone has the right to be oneself.
Following the massive loss of life caused by World War II, the United Nations signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on December 10th, 1948, in order to provide a shared understanding of everyone’s rights. Even in modern times, the world is shaped by freedom, justice, and peace, which are rights in and of themselves. As a result, December 10th is observed as International Human Rights Day, commemorating the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
It has been 70 years since the United Nations’ great Charter was drafted, and since then, states have developed and agreed to a number of powerful international treaties to codify the legal ideas of human rights into binding law. They are a combination of all human existence, all of our collective cautions and shouts. Human rights encompass a wide range of other rights, and as we expand our thinking, the circle will get larger. Economic, social, and cultural rights include such things as the right to education, housing, and health care. The government must make use of all available resources to attain these goals. Women, infants, refugees, the LGBTQ+ community, minorities, the disabled, and domestic workers are all protected by treaties.
The United Nations has accepted numerous principles, declarations, and recommendations alongside these treaties to improve the meaning of these few rights. The United Nations Human Rights Committee and UN special rapporteurs are the international bodies in charge of interpreting and monitoring various human rights accords. This is the government’s responsibility, as they are the ones that execute international human rights. The government is responsible for preserving and promoting human rights by prohibiting officials from violating them and penalizing offenders. In addition, despite offering avenues for citizens to seek assistance, they are violating their rights. Failure to take action against private individuals who abuse human rights is a human rights violation in and of itself.
Human rights breaches are established in these hidden, and maybe not so hidden, causes ranging from famine to massacres, sexual violence, and enslavement. They do not appear out of nowhere. Most human rights breaches result from policy decisions that restrict freedom and participation and obstruct the equitable distribution of resources and opportunity. The weapon of mass teaching is the most potent weapon in our armory against poverty and conflict. All human rights, justice, education, and equality must be respected. Are the intertwined factors that will lead to fair, confident, and robust societies, as well as true development and lasting peace. Our deliberations in this session will only be worthwhile if each of the States represented here takes the Council’s recommendations, its Universal Periodic Review, and its expert processes out of this room and applies them where it matters most – in their own countries.
I am well aware of the obsession with a procedure that leads state leaders to jockey for positions on Councils or prominent speaking slots at significant summits, believing that these are essential indicators of the world’s esteem for their country. However, this agitation is pointless in and of itself because everyone knows when individuals are hushed when they are afraid of arbitrary detention or worse.
When cops employ torture and when tweets are mercilessly repressed, everyone knows. Everyone realizes that Segregation leads to poverty, but with the help of a corrupt judiciary, poverty can be avoided., corrupt elites feed on public assets. When women are regarded as property and children in slum areas are hungry and unschooled, everyone notices. Some evidence could be hidden. Massacres and sexual violence, extreme poverty, the exclusive provision of healthcare and other vital resources to the affluent and well-connected, the torture of helpless detainees, and the deprivation of human decency are all occurrences in many other countries. And Excellencies, they are what genuinely define a State’s reputation, together with the State’s actual efforts – if any – to avoid abuses and redress socioeconomic inequities, and whether it respects its people’s dignity.
I feel compelled to remind you of the international human rights conventions that your governments drafted and ratified. Terrorism, globalization, and migration are not fundamentally novel concerns that warrant disrupting the legal foundation of life on Earth. They are not brand new. I feel that our collaboration with the Human Rights Council is crucial. And I implore you, and the countries you represent, to match your actions with the Council’s proposals and methods – to actually carry this work out of this august Chamber and into the streets and homes of your respective countries.
At a time when global fear is rising, I believe the world’s people are calling out for strong and inspiring leadership that is up to the task. We must thus reassert our commitment to the reality of innate and universal human rights by taking the greatest possible action to abolish discrimination, hunger, and the seemingly endless list of conflicts and crises that cause such awful and unnecessary suffering. What will happen to us, to our world, if we disregard our agreements and principles? Can we be so naive as to replicate events from the twentieth century perforated by such horrific inhumanity? You must not allow it to happen.
This is primarily your and our responsibility. If we can work together to turn the corner and improve our worldwide position, we can declare that the screams and voices of those who have suffered throughout history have finally been heard.
Thank You!