DOI: 61st Anninversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: ‘Embrace Diversity, End Discrimination’

Department of Information, Malta, Press Release Number 2134.

Today, the 10th of December the World is commemorating the 61st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. The Declaration adopted 61 years ago affirmed the universal validity of human rights for the very first time. The focus of this year’s anniversary is Non-discrimination.

Commemorating this declaration, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tonio Borg issued the following statement:

"Human rights are one of the most precious assets of human civilization. The adoption of the Universal Declaration in 1948 was a signal of hope – hope for a world which lay in ruins following the Second World War. But even today, unfortunately human rights are an unfulfilled promise for many people. Our most difficult task is not to declare yet again how good and important human rights are. What counts are concrete endeavours to close the gap between aspiration and reality in implementing human rights.

This year’s focus on non-discrimination should help politicians and policy-makers to further question the policies adopted by their countries, and ask if these are truly helping to eradicate discrimination, not only in their respective countries but also internationally.

Politicians are obliged to act in order to stop discrimination. We should all work to build a more inclusive society. Discrimination is still rampant in many third world countries, but one should not only look to these countries and stop there. We should always be aware that although in developed countries, laws and rules do exist to combat discrimination; reality sometimes does not always prove to be a correct one. Sometimes discrimination is silent, we might not be aware of it, because those who are suffering do so in silence, and loneliness.

Here I wish to quote the message by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon for this year’s anniversary: “Discrimination targets individuals and groups that are vulnerable to attack: the disabled, women and girls, the poor, migrants, minorities, and all those who are perceived as different.... But these victims of discrimination are not alone. The United Nations is standing with them, committed to defending the rights of all, and particularly the most vulnerable. That is our identity and our mission.”

The Government of Malta is committed to continue combating discrimination. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is already helping out third world countries through its Overseas Development Aid. The Ministry’s commitment for this year will help 9 local NGO’s and philanthropic institutions to deliver projects in third world countries, that will help not only to combat poverty, but also help fight discrimination.”


DOI – 10.12.2009