#STANDUP4HUMANRIGHTS – Anniversary conference and exhibition opening at the Office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights
On November 20, 2018, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights organized an anniversary event and exhibition on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the 25th anniversary of the establishment of GANHRI, i.e. the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions of the UN.
The General Assembly of the United Nations announced the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948, so each December 10 is a Human Rights Day all over the world.
With a view to emphasizing the importance of the Declaration, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights launched a one-year campaign on December 10, 2017, which will be closed by celebrating the anniversary. The main goal of the campaign is to raise awareness, in as wide a circle as possible, of the principle underlying the Declaration, which has as many as 30 articles, i.e. that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. According to the intention of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the campaign year is also meant to encourage thinking together about the ways in which we can stand up for these rights in everyday life.
In compliance with the law that defines his responsibilities and the frameworks of his activities, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights promotes the enforcement and protection of human rights. In the course of fulfilling his responsibilities, the Commissioner performs awareness raising activities and cooperates with those organizations and national institutions the goal of which is to promote the protection of fundamental rights. As the highest, status “A” national human rights institution of the United Nations Organization, the Office joins the efforts of other organizations working under the aegis of the UN and it also draws the attention of society to the fundamental requirements of respecting human rights through the media.
In 2018, our Office, joining the one-year anniversary campaign of the UN,
• ordered the preparation of a video recording in Hungarian sign language in order to ensure as wide as possible barrier-free accessibility of the contents of the Declaration, which could first be viewed by the participants of the festive occasion. You can download this video recording from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlVPcRTrlUw&t=90s,
• published an online volume containing the studies authored by the experts of the Office for the 70th anniversary of signing the Declaration,
• related to the anniversary, the Office displayed an international collection of posters illustrating the importance of human rights in an exhibition, which had been compiled by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from the works of forty renowned designers,
• the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights invited a competition for the presentation of the significance of the Declaration from an expert point of view for students in higher education and doctoral training.
The event was opened by Commissioner for Fundamental Rights Dr. László Székely, then Deputy Ombudsman Dr. Elisabeth Sándor-Szalay praised the significance of the Declaration. Dr. Mihály Simai, President of the Hungarian United Nations Association, honorary president of the World Federation of United Nations Associations, also gave a speech. In her video message, member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) Dr. Rita Izsák-Ndiaye also greeted the participants of the event. The volume of studies published in an electronic form for the 70th anniversary of the Declaration was presented to the audience by senior legal advisor of the Constitutional Court, our ex-colleague Dr. Lóránt Csink, while Deputy Commissioner Dr. Gyula Bándi discussed the intentions underlying the scientific essay competition and the works submitted by the winners.
The winners of the essay competition are the following persons:
Erna Landgraf
Andrea Haszonits
Dr. Viktória Puncsák
Congratulations to the winners.
The poster exhibition can be viewed in the Korczak room of the office from November 20 until the end of 2018.