It´s all for L.O.V.E: human rights

Showing posts with label human rights. Show all posts

June 21, 2014

June 20 - World Refugee Day

For the first time since World War II, the number of forced displaced people as a result of conflicts and persecution has surpassed 50 million.

51.2 million refugees at the end of 2013, 6 million more than in the previous year.

The UNHCR report, presented yesterday in Geneva, underlines the human tragedy caused by war.

The data shows that for the past 20 years the number of people forcefully displaced has not dropped under 30+ million.

The Syrian war is the main factor of the 6 million increase in the number of refugees since 2012, showing the full extension of the tragedy caused by the violence.

During 2013, 32,200 people per day were forced to leave their homes and search for protection in other parts of their countries or abroad.

25,300 asylum applications were lodged in 2013 by unaccompanied or separated children in 77 countries.

50% of the refugees in 2013 were children under the age of 18

You can find some refugees stories here:

Stories - UNHCR

UNHCR Refugee Report - end 2013

UNHCR

UN - World Refugee Day 2014

Amnesty International

December 11, 2013

December 10 - Human Rights Day

To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.

Nelson Mandela

"To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity."

Nelson Mandela

To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.

Nelson Mandela

To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.

Nelson Mandela

We stand taller today because of the efforts of so many who have fought to ensure that the human rights are a certainty and not just an ideal.

The 2013 Human Rights Day celebrates the past 20 years since the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. Unfortunately we also have to say goodbye to one of warriors who inspired people all over the world. It is his leadership, his actions and inspiring words that we will continue to honor and cherish.

Human rights are too often set aside, when they should be a fact of life. We own ourselves and each other that human right should not be just a talking point but a goal for which we each work every day. For human rights to become a certainty for all there are no small actions, just actions.

Amnesty International - Write for Rights 2013 Campaign

"Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where the people are fed,

and where individuals and nations are free."

14th Dalai Lama

For more information and ways to help

Amnesty International

Amnesty International Report 2013

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

One International

Walk Free

Oxfam - Arms Trade Treaty

Nelson Mandela Foundation

Human Rights Watch

United Nations Human Rights - Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

Human Rights - Blog Action Day 2013

"The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists

who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood."
Martin Luther King, Jr.

November 25, 2013

November 25, 2013 - International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/end-violence-against-women

In 2012 the UN's Secretary-General's UNITE to End Violence against Women campaign declared the 25th of each month as Orange Day. The initiative comes as a result of the need to further promote the cause and raise awareness to the ongoing struggles to eliminate violence against women.

To this day this is one of the most widespread violations of human rights.

FACTS

Up to 70 per cent of women experience violence in their lifetime.

Between 500,000 to 2 million people are trafficked annually into situations including prostitution, forced labour, slavery or servitude, according to estimates. Women and girls account for about 80 per cent of the detected victims.

It is estimated that more than 130 million girls and women alive today have undergone FGM/C, mainly in Africa and some Middle Eastern countries.

The cost of intimate partner violence in the United States alone exceeds $5.8 billion per year: $4.1 billion is for direct medical and health care services, while productivity losses account for nearly $1.8 billion.

Source UN

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women identifies violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.”

Source Amnesty International

Starting today, the next 16 days (up until Human Rights Day on December 10) are dedicated to providing education, awareness and a platform for individuals and groups to come together and join efforts in ending violence against women.

For more information and ways to help

Amnesty International

UN Women

UN Women - Voices Against Violence

UNiTE to End Violence

Say NO - UNiTE To End Violence Against Women

UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women

Stop Rape Now

UNiTE Worldwide

November 20, 2013

November 20, 2013 - Universal Children's Day

#ENDviolence

"The foundation of all human knowledge, the beginning of human consciousness, must be that each and every one of us is an object of love. Before you know if you have red hair or brown, before you know if you are black or white, before you know of what religion you are a part, you have to know that you are loved"

Michael Jackson

More on Universal Children's Day / Children's Rights:

UNICEF

UNICEF Report

Human Rights Watch

Philippines Relief

Oxfam - Typhoon Haiyan

Doctors Without Borders

UNICEF

World Food Program

October 16, 2013

Human Rights - Blog Action Day, 2013

On this day we decided to be part of Blog Action Day

On short is an attempt to get people together in talking about an issue and this year the focus is on human rights, in the hope of widening the conversation and gather ideas and stir up action.

The Universal Declaration has 30 articles that list as many rights. Each of us has every one of them, no exceptions, equally, no expiration date.

Human rights are inalienable.

No one can ever lose their human rights, they are not transferable nor can they be repudiated.
They cannot be taken away or given away.

Human rights are indivisible.

There is not one more important than other.
To be able to live, be free, and be safe all the other rights must be upheld.
Therefor no violation of human rights is more or less important. It's not the severity of the violation or where it occurs that is bad but just the fact it does.

Human rights are interdependent.

If one right is not respected then all the others are affected.
And as many have said it before if one of us is denied their rights then all of us lose them.

Responsibility and respect are our rights - we should exercise them more.

When we each talk about human rights, our vision and position are heavily influenced by our life experience and the realities of where we live. Living in a country that is known as stable (from political, economical, social points of view) do not assure us ours rights being respected.
In many instances the talk about human rights is containing only the concern for freedom of speech and equality/civil rights while education, health, family, work are treated separately
and mostly outside the human rights framework.
Living with dignity, free from fear is what every person should be able to do.
It cannot be achieved unless the human rights are upheld for all, in any time and circumstances.

"Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government. They are every human being's entitlement by virtue of his humanity. The right to life does not depend, and must not be contingent, on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or sovereign. ...
You must weep that your own government, at present, seems blind to this truth."
Mother Teresa

Sources

Amnesty International

ONE

Human Rights Watch

WalkFree

September 21, 2013

Children's Day, September 21st, 2013 - International Day of Peace

“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.”

Albert Einstein

The UN passed the resolution for a world peace day in 1981 and in the next year the day was first observed as International Day of Peace.

The theme chosen for this year's International Day of Peace is "Education for Peace", in recognition of the importance of educating people about consequences of war on our children, our environment and on every aspect of life with the intent to reduce the probability of wars prolonging and expanding and thus holding captive our spirits and killing our loved ones.

“The essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of the products of human labour. War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent.”

George Orwell ("1984")

Educating ourselves, our children and people around us will improve our understanding of the world and each other. Getting to know ourselves, the others and the world in which we live will bring us closer to finding a solution to our disagreements and making wars just part of our history. And most of all we need to rediscover our connections.

“Human knowledge consists not only of libraries of parchment and ink -

it is also comprised of the volumes of knowledge that are written on the human heart,

chiseled on the human soul, and engraved on the human psyche. ”
Michael Jackson

The end of war is within our power. Now I know I cannot stop the conflict in Syria, or the violence in Sudan, but I can donate, I can sign a petition, I can raise awareness to a cause, I can post a tweet or a Facebook update that will state my believes or help spread the word, I can participate in public debates and in the political process in my country, I can learn, I can open my heart and my mind, I can pray, I will.

“Declare it. Just the same way we declare war. That is how we will have peace... we just need to declare it.”
John Lennon

"Sadly, sadly, we live in a state of fear. Everyday we hear of war on the news, on the radio and television and the newspapers, always of war. We hear of nations hurting each other, of neighbours hurting each other, of families hurting each other and the children killing each other. We must learn to live and love each other before it's too late. We have to stop! We have to stop the prejudice, we have to stop the hating, we have to stop living in fear of our own neighbours"

Michael Jackson