Human Rights Day

“It is clear that social divisions are being replicated online. More worryingly, as essential services continue to shift online, digital inclusion becomes mandatory for basic participation in society. It should therefore be considered a human right. This is especially important in the context of e-government, where the welfare of the most vulnerable is at stake.”

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Social Justice Sunday Statement 2020, p 8.

Human Rights Day is observed every year on the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Declaration affirms that all human beings have inalienable rights as human beings regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. It is available in more than 500 languages, and is one of the most translated documents in the world.

Catholic Social Teaching sees human rights as demands made by our human dignity. Our human rights do not come from the Declaration, but rather from the fact that we are made in the image and likeness of God and each one of us is of inestimable value. The Declaration, together with related human rights conventions, upholds rights that arise from our human dignity.