By Satyabrat Borah
Human Rights Day, observed annually on December 10, marks the anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. This document, drafted in the shadow of World War II and the Holocaust, remains one of the most translated and influential texts in history. It articulates thirty articles that proclaim the inherent dignity and equal, inalienable rights of all members of the human family as the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. Every year on this date, governments, civil society organizations, schools, artists, activists and ordinary citizens pause to reflect on how far humanity has come in recognizing these rights and how far it still has to go.
The story of the Declaration itself is worth remembering. After the horrors of two world wars and the systematic extermination of millions, the newly formed United Nations decided that “never again” could not be an empty promise. Delegates from China, France, Lebanon, the Soviet Union, the United States, Chile, Australia and Canada, among others, worked under the leadership of Eleanor Roosevelt to craft a common standard. They came from different ideologies, religions and legal traditions, yet they agreed on one essential truth: every human being possesses rights simply by virtue of being human, not because a government chooses to grant them. On the night of December 10, 1948, in Paris, the General Assembly adopted the Declaration with forty-eight votes in favor and none against, while eight countries abstained, mostly from the Soviet bloc and South Africa, then under apartheid.
The Declaration’s articles cover civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. No one shall be held in slavery or servitude. No one shall subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law, to equal protection of the law, to a fair and public hearing by an independent tribunal. The document proclaims freedom of movement, the right to seek asylum, the right to a nationality, the right to marry and found a family, the right to own property, freedom of thought, conscience and religion, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to peaceful assembly, the right to take part in government, the right to work, to just and favorable conditions of work, to equal pay for equal work, to form and join trade unions, the right to rest and leisure, the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to education, and the right to participate in the cultural life of the community.
Seventy-seven years later, the world is a different place, yet the same challenges persist in new forms. Slavery has not disappeared; it has mutated into human trafficking, forced labor and debt bondage affecting tens of millions. Torture continues in police stations, secret detention centers and conflict zones. Freedom of expression faces threats from authoritarian regimes, corporate censorship, online harassment and disinformation campaigns. Migrants and refugees are turned away at borders or left to drown in the Mediterranean and the Andaman Sea. Indigenous peoples see their lands seized for mining and agribusiness. Women and girls are denied education, forced into early marriage or killed in the name of honor. LGBTI persons are criminalized in dozens of countries and murdered with impunity in many more. Journalists are jailed, disappeared or assassinated for telling uncomfortable truths.
At the same time, progress is undeniable. Colonial empires have crumbled. Apartheid has ended. The number of democracies has grown. The death penalty is disappearing from law books. Child mortality has plummeted. Literacy rates have soared. Same-sex marriage is legal in more than thirty countries. Movements such as MeToo, BlackLivesMatter and FridaysForFuture have shown that ordinary people can still shift the conscience of the world. International tribunals have prosecuted war criminals who once seemed untouchable. A global network of human rights defenders, often at great personal risk, documents abuses and demands accountability.
Yet the backlash is fierce. Populists and strongmen dismiss human rights as Western luxuries or elite conspiracies. Some governments withdraw from international treaties or sabotage the very institutions created to protect rights. Surveillance technologies enable unprecedented control over citizens. Climate change threatens the right to food, water and life itself, with the poorest suffering disproportionately by those who contributed least to the crisis. Artificial intelligence raises new questions about privacy, non-discrimination and accountability. Economic inequality has reached levels not seen since the 1920s, mocking the promise of equal opportunity.
Each Human Rights Day carries a theme chosen by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Recent years have focused on youth standing up for human rights, reducing inequalities, advancing racial justice, dignity, freedom and justice for all during the COVID-19 pandemic, and equality as the foundation of human rights. In 2025, the theme emphasizes the indivisibility of rights in an era of multiple crises. The message is clear: civil and political rights cannot flourish when people go hungry, lack healthcare or face discrimination. Economic and social rights remain hollow when governments silence dissent or jail opponents.
Celebrations and commemorations take many forms. In schools, students debate the meaning of dignity and organize mock sessions of the General Assembly. Universities host lectures and panel discussions. Museums open exhibitions on the history of struggles for rights. Cities illuminate public buildings in the blue of the United Nations. Concerts, poetry readings and theater performances remind audiences that art has always been a weapon against oppression. Activists launch campaigns to free political prisoners, end child marriage or protect environmental defenders. Families light candles for victims of atrocities. Social media fills with quotes from the Declaration, photos of protests past and present, and calls to action.
The day also serves as a moment of reckoning. Reports released around December 10 document the state of human rights worldwide. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the UN Human Rights Council and national institutions publish findings that often make uncomfortable reading for governments. Indexes measure press freedom, corruption, gender equality and rule of law, revealing both bright spots and persistent darkness. The Universal Periodic Review process forces every UN member state to face scrutiny from its peers every four and a half years, an imperfect but vital exercise in accountability.
Perhaps the most powerful celebrations happen far from headlines. A teacher in a refugee camp explains to children that they too have rights. A community radio station in a remote village broadcasts the Declaration in a local language for the first time. A group of women in a conservative society meets secretly to discuss bodily autonomy. A young programmer develops an app to document police violence safely. A former political prisoner visits a school to tell students why freedom matters. These quiet acts of courage and learning are the true measure of whether the promise of 1948 is alive.
Looking ahead, the challenges are daunting but not insurmountable. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development explicitly links human rights to the fight against poverty, hunger, inequality and climate change. New treaties on business and human rights, on the rights of peasants, and on the prohibition of nuclear weapons show that the international community can still agree on progress. Youth movements demand not charity but justice. Technology, for all its dangers, also empowers marginalized voices and exposes abuses in real time.
Human Rights Day is not a celebration of arrival but a renewal of commitment. It reminds us that rights are not self-executing; they require constant defense. Every generation must fight its own battles against indifference, hatred and greed. The Declaration is not a compass, not a destination. As Eleanor Roosevelt said on that December night in 1948, this document can become “the international Magna Carta of all men everywhere” only if citizens make it their own. On December 10 each year, the world is invited to do exactly that: to read the articles aloud, to teach them to children, to invoke them in courtrooms and streets, to live them in daily choices. In a world that often feels broken, Human Rights Day insists that another world is still possible, one where every person is free and equal in dignity and rights. The task is ours, and the time is always now.
