Every year on December 10, the UN celebrates Human Rights Day to remind people worldwide about the drawing up of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the bright future it ensured for citizens worldwide with regard to their personal rights and freedoms.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said this year’s theme – 20 Years Working for Your Rights – was chosen to commemorate the 20th anniversary since the drawing up of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action and as a reminder to all to “intensify our efforts to fulfil our collective responsibility to promote and protect the rights and dignity of all people everywhere”.
Human rights are very much at the centre of University life. The University offers a number of courses that have human rights as a main area of studies.
Moreover, many students from all around the world are given the opportunity to further their studies at the University. The diversity of people at University is impossible to ignore.
This year, to mark Human Rights Day, the Human Rights Programme of the University’s Faculty of Laws organised its first symposium to involve students in discussions on the theme Human Rights Protection under Modern Constitutional Law. It included a key address by Prof. Jim Murdock from the University of Glasgow, talks by established Maltese figures in the human rights sector, as well as workshops and group discussions during which students could give their input.
Another activity that took place was AIESEC’s Global Christmas Village. The ‘No hate this Christmas’ message is apt in promoting unity and equality regardless of nationality or cultural differences.
The event created a global village by showcasing the diverse traditions of how countries all around the world celebrate Christmas. This was another way of promoting the elimination of discrimination on the grounds of culture and different religious beliefs.
These events and initiatives help promote a more humane University based on respect of universal human rights and freedoms, diversity and elimination of discrimination.
Dionne Taryn Gatt is a law student and writer at Insite Malta.