The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Human Rights 75 – Welcome statement by Volker Türk - 11 December 2023
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5:55
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MP4
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368.4 MB
Teleprompter
in the ashes of global warfare.
It brought hope
to put an end to cycles of bloodshed.
It promised justice.
It promised development
that would be secure,
equitable, inclusive.
It set out the path to peace
because 75 years ago,
in adopting
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
all member states of the newly born United Nations
acknowledged this deep truth.
Recognition of the inherent dignity
and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members
of the human family is the foundation of freedom,
justice and peace in the world.
Excellencies
Colleagues, friends.
I'm glad to welcome you to this global event.
It encapsulates a year of passionate
and probing conversations across the world about
the Universal Declaration,
and it seeks to protect that energy forward
as we face our challenging future.
You
our participants,
come from every region
and many walks of life.
And that diversity of origins and outlooks reminds us
that the rights set out in the Universal Declaration are exactly that universal.
Those who live in poverty
are those who glide through the corridors of power.
All human beings are born equal in dignity and rights.
From this commitment,
many movements of liberation have drawn their strength.
Women and men beaten down by exploitation stood up
and demanded justice.
They joined independence movements and toppled oppressive empires.
They confronted repressive regimes and won freedom.
They brought segregation and apartheid to an end.
They created partnerships
with former adversaries.
They achieved accountability for unbearable crimes.
And they struggled and continued to struggle
for an end to all forms of discrimination, for social protection,
for decent conditions of work.
This energy and vision on the part of
communities across the world have nourished the immense creativity
and resulting development
that much of the world now enjoys.
But alongside the progress
that has transformed many of our societies,
there have also been numerous failures to uphold
human rights over the past 75 years.
We live among such failures today
with the turmoil and suffering that they produce
war.
My thoughts go to the millions of people suffering unbearably
in the occupied Palestinian territory, notably Gaza
and Israel
in Sudan, Ukraine, Myanmar and so many other places. Famine,
oppressive and hateful. Discrimination,
repression and persecution,
threats to human rights generated by climate change, pollution
and biodiversity loss.
These are profound and interlocking challenges
that stem from the failure to uphold human rights.
The guide
to their solution exists.
It was drawn up at a time of horror
after the most monstrous mass killing of the world
has ever known in the form of the Holocaust
and with the knowledge
that total destruction was growing closer,
it has demonstrated
its power and efficacy over decades. It bridges every sector of government
and field of human endeavour,
and it resonates with the ancient wisdom
that connects all human beings.
The Universal Declaration is a river
that has been nourished by many streams.
Among them
Let me pay tribute
to the heroes of the Haitian revolution
who rose up to demand an end to enslavement and racist oppression
to the profound African values of interdependence,
co-operation and collective responsibility to Islam's emphasis
on human dignity and the principle of
Sakha compassionate sharing
to the freedoms of the Enlightenment. To the proud feminism of India's Hansa
Meta
to the fundamental oneness of Asian spiritual traditions
and to the insistence on the universality
and indivisibility of many Latin American voices,
the drafters of the Universal Declaration transcended geopolitical clashes
and economic differences.
They set aside many terrible disputes to achieve this luminous text
which lit the path
which led the path to peace, justice and freedom.
And so I view today's event
as a call to hope
and a call to action
at a time of so little solidarity and so much divisive and short sighted vision.
I view it as a call to overcome polarisation,
a call to work with courage and principles together
to resolve the huge challenges that we face a
call to hark back to the spirit
that led every member state to adopt the Universal Declaration
and to base local, national
and global decisions across all areas of policy
on the intrinsic and equal value of every human life.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.