Foreign Policy Blogs

Human Rights Day, December 10th

For Human Rights Day, December 10thmost people today, December 10, 2010, will come and go just like any other day. Most will rise and the morning and go to work or school as normal. However today is not just any normal day, but international Human Rights Day.

Since 1945 the United Nations founding the protection and preservation of Human Rights has been a global priority. In 1948 the UN General Assembly passed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, following which in 1950 it was declared by the General Assembly to observe 10 December as Human Rights Day (resolution 423(V)) to mark the anniversary of the Assembly’s adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Therefore the day for some should be a day of joyous celebration as they enjoy the freedoms and liberties they have as they follow through their daily routines with all of their human rights in tact. For others the day should be one of empowerment and protest as they fight, some for the most basic of human rights. Rights to an education, gender equality…freedom and the ability to speak up for themselves or their children…yet their voices will mostly remain silent today.  Therefore please take a moment to not only celebrate your human rightgs, but to remember those whose freedoms have been taken away…to those who where born into a world where they were instantly denied many of their human rights. To children who toil in forced labor, poverty, sex trafficking, preventable diseases, child marriages, and many more unspeakable and preventable atrocities that no child, nor man or woman, should ever have to face.

 

Author

Cassandra Clifford

Cassandra Clifford is the Founder and Executive Director of Bridge to Freedom Foundation, which works to enhance and improve the services and opportunities available to survivors of modern slavery. She holds an M.A., International Relations from Dublin City University in Ireland, as well as a B.A., Marketing and A.S., Fashion Merchandise/Marketing from Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Cassandra has previously worked in both the corporate and charity sector for various industries and causes, including; Child Trafficking, Learning Disabilities, Publishing, Marketing, Public Relations and Fashion. Currently Cassandra is conducting independent research on the use of rape as a weapon of war, as well as America’s Pimp Culture and its Impact on Modern Slavery. In addition to her many purists Cassandra is also working to develop a series of children’s books.

Cassandra currently resides in the Washington, D.C. metro area, where she also writes for the Examiner, as the DC Human Rights Examiner, and serves as an active leadership member of DC Stop Modern Slavery.


Areas of Focus:
Children's Rights; Human Rights; Conflict