Every year on 10th December, we commemorate the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 following the end of World War Two. We are currently facing a global crisis like no other.
This year, the entire world has been presented with an unprecedented challenge to life and liberty. However, the UN has called for human rights to be at the centre of recovery.
In this post, we roundup some of the best Scottish content helping us to understand the importance of continuing to enshrine human rights in law, progress in Scotland, and how human rights play a crucial role in our recovery from the Coronavirus pandemic.
International Human Rights Day
By Professor Alan Miller , Strathclyde University Law School
We are living in times not experienced since the signing on 10 December 1948 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It “set a standard of common achievement” for all nations and although it has been challenged by events ever since it has undoubtedly stood the test of time. This is because its rights are founded on the universal value of human dignity.Once again it is at the heart of a call from the UN for the world to build back better. Its full realisation would be transformative for the world.
The pandemic is the consequence of the failure to protect the environment and biodiversity. It has also laid bare the lack of economic and social resilience and revealed the structural inequalities within and among nations. It is universally the poor and disempowered who have borne the brunt. Women, children, ethnic minority communities, migrants, disabled, older, and LGBTI people are among those who have suffered a disproportionate impact.
Scottish Human Rights Commission Youtube
It’s #HumanRightsDay. This year, COVID-19 has affected everyone’s rights. It’s been a challenging year for all and a devastating year for some. We hope #HumanRights will be a compass to help us #RecoverBetter, as we discuss in this video message.
New report recommends the creation of a new human rights
framework to improve people’s lives
The First Minister’s Advisory Group on Human Rights Leadership has published its recommendations on how human rights leadership can be exercised in and by Scotland. Central to these recommendations is a new framework of human rights to improve people’s daily lives. Operating independently from the Scottish Government, the Advisory Group was set up by Scotland’s First Minister, as part of the 2018 Programme for Government. It was set up to make recommendations on how Scotland can continue to lead by example in the field of human rights, including economic, social, cultural and environmental rights.
Enhancing human rights – Announcement from the First
Minister
