Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home -- so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. [...] Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world."
Eleanor Roosevelt
ANNOUNCEMENT
Legal Affairs Division (BHEUU) in the Prime Minister’s Department, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) and Office of the United Nations in Malaysia (UNCT) are proud to organise the Human Rights Day Virtual Forum 2020; “Recover Better – Stand Up for Human Rights” on 10 December 2020 from 9 am to 12 pm.
The forum will be officiated by YB Dato’ Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, Minister of Foreign Affairs together with H.E. Stefan Priesner, UN Resident Coordinator for Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam and YBhg. Tan Sri Othman Hashim, Chairman of SUHAKAM.
This year’s theme “Recover Better” is apt as the world is facing the dire impact of COVID-19. Discussions at this year’s forum will focus on the various challenges faced by different communities in the face of COVID-19, weigh the dimensions of human rights versus recovery and preserving life, as well as explore best practices in moving ahead and rebuilding together. The forum will consist of two panels - COVID-19 and Human Rights & Recover Better, Rebuild Together.
Register for Human Rights Day Virtual Forum 2020 at https://tinyurl.com/yxzhmgkr or watch on YouTube live at https://tinyurl.com/y42bay8k.
We are pleased to invite everyone to join us in this forum on 10 December 2020, which will be held virtually through ZOOM application and YouTube Live.Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December — the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UDHR is a milestone document that proclaims the inalienable rights which everyone is entitled to as a human being - regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Available in more than 500 languages, it is the most translated document in the world.
2020 Theme: Recover Better - Stand Up for Human Rights
This year’s Human Rights Day theme relates to the COVID-19 pandemic and focuses on the need to build back better by ensuring Human Rights are central to recovery efforts. We will reach our common global goals only if we are able to create equal opportunities for all, address the failures exposed and exploited by COVID-19, and apply human rights standards to tackle entrenched, systematic, and intergenerational inequalities, exclusion and discrimination.
10 December is an opportunity to reaffirm the importance of human rights in re-building the world we want, the need for global solidarity as well as our interconnectedness and shared humanity.
Under UN Human Rights’ generic call to action “Stand Up for Human rights”, we aim to engage the general public, our partners and the UN family to bolster transformative action and showcase practical and inspirational examples that can contribute to recovering better and fostering more resilient and just societies.
