Human Rights Council 37: High Level Panel on UDHR & VDPA
UK statement for the High Level Panel on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights & the Vienna Declaration & Programme of Action, held on 28 February 2018.
The Human Rights Council takes place at the Palais des Nations in Geneva
Imagine a world without a Universal Declaration of Human Rights or indeed without a High Commissioner for Human Rights.
It’s difficult because we are so accustomed to – and rightly wedded to – promoting and protecting human rights as matter of international priority.
We take strength and solace in the mechanisms that we have jointly created such as the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Once abstract notions of universality, equality, non-discrimination and inherent dignity are now codified in international law and practice, thanks to instruments such as the UDHR and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action.
But are we taking for granted these rights?
Do we view them as purely written word and not, as intended by our predecessors, as a rallying call for action, for progress, and as means by which we hold states to account?
It is perhaps too easy to lose perspective of why we must act upon these rights when history becomes distant or different from our collective, experienced reality.
But history can repeat itself.
Therefore, 70 years since the creation of the UDHR and 25 years after the VDPA, we need to reflect on what it means to promote and protect human rights.
Today, we must rally behind their conceptual basis and recognise that the UDHR takes inspiration from religious practices or beliefs and the major legal traditions. That it represents a vision - if realised - that can prevent conflict, which can promote sustainable development and which would bring dignity to all.
But for many people, this remains a distant dream.
We face a sustained implementation gap which we must re-commit to bridge with renewed focus on human rights as the third and indivisible pillar of the United Nations.
As Eleanor Roosevelt said “the world of the future is in our making. Tomorrow is now”.