On the 60th Anniversary of the UDHR//

I am pleased to join together with millions of others as we celebrate the 60^th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. As people fortunate enough to have been born or adopted into a nation of affluence with access to the rights to political participation it is an honor to carry out the duty to give voice to those who are in a less fortunate position—the victims of systemic global injustice.  As we reflect on and turn our attention to the common human values of full dignity and equality we must acknowledge that though our words are a powerful starting point, words alone cannot sustain human rights. 

We want to celebrate this day as a day of achievement but as we look at the world as it is, it is obvious that our words lack the force of sustained and united action.  How can we say that human dignity exists while 18 million members of the human family die each year due to lack of secure access to food, clean water, adequate shelter, and minimal medical care?  How can we say that human equality is flourishing while women and girls comprise 70% of the world’s poor, over 60% of those who are not taught to read and write, and are systematically blocked from political participation and full human status within the family.

Too often we take refuge in ignorance overlooking these facts or—when noticed—attributing them to local causes and cultural difference.  Yet, is it not our common values, the values of freedom from hunger, oppression, and discrimination, the freedoms of expression, autonomy, and fellowship, that overcame any differences 60 years ago and united the people of the world beneath the banner of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?  This commonality is greater than any difference. We all—humanity—share a common past and we share a common future that is greater than any manufactured difference.  Today let us unite under this commonality and make the last 60 years of normative ideals into a practical reality.  Let us take our knowledge and transform it into wisdom and our wisdom into action.  

by Lynette E. Sieger