PARIS, Dec 10 2020 (IPS)* – On Human Rights Day, civil society calls for the protection of civic space as a fundamental freedom, as more than 80% of the world’s population live in countries where civic space is closed, repressed or obstructed.
Credit: Forus International
Protecting civil society and fundamental freedoms means protecting the rights to associate and assemble, to express views and opinions. Civic space is the bedrock of any open and democratic society.
9 December 2020 (UNHCR)* — While a full picture for 2020 is yet to be established, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, estimates that global forced displacement surpassed 80 million at mid-year, according to a report on trends in global forced displacement released today in Geneva. | Español | Français | عربي
A participant examines pamphlet at the 15th Annual International Human Rights Summit 2018, which focused on Youth for Human Rights. UN Photo/Loey Felipe
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10 December 2020 (United Nations)* — The Universal Declaration of Human Rights holds the Guinness World Record as the most translated document. Yet, far too many people are still unaware of their basic rights as human beings.
Drafted by representatives of diverse legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration sets out universal values and a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations. It establishes the equal dignity and worth of every person.
10 December 2020 (United Nations)*— Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December — the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
In Ukraine, youth work on anti-corruption. We are promoting collective action against corruption through multi-stakeholder engagement with governments, businesses and civil society and empowering communities, with a focus on women and youth to strengthen social accountability. Photo: UNDP Ukraine
This International Anti-Corruption Day is an opportunity for us to recommit to collective action in preventing and addressing corruption, as we reflect on the devastating consequences of COVID-19 on governance institutions, the economy, and society.
9 December 2020 (UN News)* — Not only has the coronavirus crisis unleashed immense social and economic suffering, it has created opportunities for corruption to thrive, the UN Secretary-General has said, underscoring that measures to prevent and fight such unscrupulous activities must be included in recovery from the pandemic as well as in the development and rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.
World Bank/Philip Schuler | A billboard in Namibia, which calls on everyone to neither offer nor accept bribes.
(Athens) Thousands of asylum seekers, aid workers, United Nations, and Greek and European Union employees may be at risk of lead poisoning in a new migrant camp that Greek authorities have built on a repurposed military firing range on the island of Lesbos, Human Rights Watch said on 8 December 2020.
(New York) – The Bangladesh government should immediately halt imminent relocations of Rohingya refugees to remote Bhasan Char island, Human Rights Watch said on 3 December 2020.
7 December 2020 – The head of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), has voiced concerns over the reported relocation of some Rohingya refugees by Bangladeshi authorities, to an island off the country’s coast, in the Bay of Bengal. (*)
UNICEF/Roger Lemoyne | Shelters housing Rohingya refugees at the Unchiprang camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. (file photo)
“Any transfer must follow a voluntary, informed decision”, Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said on Twitter on Sunday [7 December 2020].
According to media reports, about 1,600 Rohingya refugees have moved from camps in Cox’s Bazar to the Bhasan Char island in the Bay of Bengal, a low-lying island said to be vulnerable to cyclones and flooding.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 