December 10 will mark the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document that remains as relevant today as it was in those initial post-World War II years.
Late last autumn, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) launched a year-long campaign to note the anniversary, highlighting some of the achievements the document has brought and bringing attention to many of its promises that have been left unfulfilled.
Thanks to the document, the UN notes:
“The dignity of millions has been uplifted, untold human suffering prevented and the foundations for a most just world have been laid. While its promise is yet to be fulfilled, the very fact that it has stood the test of time is testament to the enduring universality of its perennial values of equality, justice and human dignity.”
The campaign’s core objectives:
To engage a broad base of audiences the world over; to help promote understanding of how the Universal Declaration empowers us all; and encourage further reflection on the ways that each of us can stand up for rights, every day.
As part of the campaign, partner Posters for Tomorrow joined OHCHR in organizing an international call for contributions for an exhibit on the theme, #standup4humanrights. Forty works, created by renowned international graphic designers were selected for an exhibit that the UN body is making available to NGOs and community groups interested in exhibiting them. Thirteen of those, which I saw on display outside of the UN headquarters in Geneva this weekend, are below. You can download all 40 in one file here.
