Human Rights Day
Human Rights Day is observed by the international community every year on 10 December. It commemorates the day in 1948 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Things that many of us take for granted – the right to receive an education, adequate health care and to practice a religion if we choose to – are not available to all Australians and people around the world.
Many individuals and communities commemorate and celebrate Human Rights Day and commit to maintain and improve people’s human rights wherever possible.
The formal inception of Human Rights Day dates from 1950, after the Assembly invited all States and interested organisations to adopt 10 December of each year as Human Rights Day. When the General Assembly adopted the Declaration, it was proclaimed as a “common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations”, towards which individuals and societies should “strive by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance”.
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