Global Issues
Human Right Day 2025
In a world of turbulence and doubt, one promise remains. In 1948, nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
It named dignity, freedom and equality as rights for everyone, everywhere.
Yet too often, power, profit and prejudice push those rights aside.
Civilian deaths in conflict rose sharply again in 2024.
Every 12 minutes, a civilian is killed in war.
Every 14 hours, a human rights defender, journalist or trade unionist is killed or disappears.
One in five people say they experienced discrimination in just one year.
By the end of 2024, over 120 million people were forcibly displaced from their homes.
Almost three quarters of humanity now live where civic freedoms are tightly restricted.
From Gaza to Haiti, Sudan to Myanmar, civilians pay the highest price.
736 million women—almost one in three—have suffered physical or sexual violence.
Each year, 16 days of activism link violence against women to Human Rights Day.
Young people are demanding futures free from addiction, climate chaos and hate.
Their marches, open letters and strikes keep the promise of rights alive.
Against this backdrop, human rights are not abstract ideals.
They are our everyday essentials.
In the food we eat, the air we breathe, the homes that shelter us.
In fair work and equal pay, safe schools and free, independent media.
Human rights are POSITIVE, ESSENTIAL and ATTAINABLE—when we act together.
On 10 December 2025, we mark Human Rights Day Human Rights: Our Everyday Essentials
© Inter Press Service (20251210191554) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service