December 10th is known as Human Rights Day worldwide. The United Nations started Human Rights Day shortly after World War II as a way to help prevent the atrocities committed during the war from happening ever again. At this time, the General Assembly of the United Nations declared in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that human rights and human dignity is “the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world.” In 1950, the General Assembly invited all nations in the UN to take part in observing December 10th as Human Rights Day.
So what does this mean to us, here and now? Well, unfortunately, while no one can deny that things are much improved since the days of colonialism, we still have quite a row to hoe. We still have genocide occurring right now in regions around the world. There are some rogue nations that continue to persecute their own people, away from the watchful eyes of the United Nations.
On a lesser level, we have people across the planet used and exploited daily by others for the sake of money and resources. While not as harsh as genocide, this kind of exploitation of a population slowly erodes the populace, eventually destroying their identity and culture. This is a cause that we here at Fair Trade Sports believe is deserving of the UN’s attention.
So what can we do to observe Human Rights Day? We can do simple things like think and talk about human rights and what is going on in the world, or take it to the next level and write your Congressman or even the UN. This December 10th, take stock of your situation and see what you can do to help.
