Human Rights Day, celebrated annually on December 10, is an excellent opportunity to celebrate and promote full respect for all human rights, by everyone, for everyone, and everywhere. The date was chosen because, in 1948, the United Nations officially adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since then, since 1950, Human Rights Day has been celebrated on this date.
The date, in addition to the various celebrations and events, serves to reinforce the need to fight for concrete actions by countries and society to guarantee the civil, political, social and environmental rights of the entire world population, and not just some nations and subjects.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the UN on December 10, 1948. The Declaration was a response to the barbaric crimes committed during the Second World War, such as the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the crimes committed by the Nazis.
Through the Universal Declaration, countries have committed to making an effort to eliminate all forms of obstacles to these rights. “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” is the basic principle of this declaration, which prohibits slavery, torture, discrimination and violence.
“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In the small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any map of the world. (…) Unless these rights have some meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere else. Without concerted civic action to maintain them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
Human Rights on the CEBDS Agenda
The proposals of business leaders associated with CEBDS for the area of human rights are gathered in the document CEBDS Agenda for a Sustainable Country, launched during last year's presidential elections and delivered to each of the candidates.
The document advocates constant and official monitoring of gender and race representation in politics and public power, allowing for the assessment of the effectiveness of policies that encourage the qualification, participation and balanced remuneration of women and black people. In addition, it proposes the search for mechanisms that ensure greater transparency in gender and race representation in public administration, promoting greater equity.
A CEBDS Agenda proposes that a platform with updated data on the profile of its employees be maintained on the Federal Government's Transparency Portal. This would allow the entire population to monitor how the Brazilian government is advancing and adapting to the goals of reducing inequalities, especially those related to gender and race. Likewise, the document states, companies must commit to maintaining public data on their social profiles, so that everyone can monitor whether there is progress towards the SDGs.
There are currently around 35 proposals being processed in the National Congress that aim to increase the participation of women and black people in politics and public administration, the majority of which are through quotas or other forms of incentives. Of these, 10 have a high impact, that is, if approved they would have direct effects on reducing inequalities.
However, no project addresses the maintenance of open data by the federal government on the occupation of public positions and their remuneration, based on gender and race. This reiterates the relevance of the proposal contained in the CEBDS Agenda, whose main objective is to seek to reduce gender and racial inequalities in the labor market.
Photography Credits: Dharshie Wissah / 2019 Ciwem Environmental Photographer of the Year
