Sudan marks Human Rights Day

At an event to mark Human Rights Day* in Khartoum today, the United Nations Resident Humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, Gwi-Yeop Son, reaffirmed the UN Country Team’s “readiness to stand together with the people of Sudan and in support of the Transitional Government”.

In her opening remarks at the event organised today (under the auspices of Sudan’s Minister of Youth and Sports, Walaa El Boushi) by the United Nations Human Rights Training, Documentation Centre for South-West Asia and the Arab Region (UNTDC) and the Regional Centre for Training and Development of Civil Society (RCDCS) in Sudan to celebrate Human Rights Day, Son said: “Establishing a fully mandated Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is a first significant step and together the whole UN system will support the government in assuming its responsibilities and the Sudanese people in exercising the full spectrum of their economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights.”

This year’s Human Rights Day, 10 December, is celebrated under the theme “Youth Standing up for Human Rights.” Under the generic call to action “Stand Up for Human rights”, the Day celebrates the potential of youth as constructive agents of change, amplify their voices and engage a broad range of global audiences in the promotion and protection of rights.

The campaign, led by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), is designed to encourage, galvanise and showcase how youth all over the world stands up for rights, against racism, hate speech, bullying, discrimination, climate change to only name a few.

‘Let us defend the rights and the needs of every one of us…’ – Minister Walaa El Boushi

Sudan’s Minister of Youth and Sports called on all Sudanese youth to defend peace, equality and freedom and put an end to bloodshed. Minister Walaa El Boushi: “Let us remember that our needs are different, some need wheelchairs, some need sticks to lead on the road. We complement each other, so let us defend the rights and the needs of every one of us,” El Boushi said. She added that “let us remember that we have brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers living in displacement and refugee camps. We must defend their rights and be supportive to them.”

The event was addressed by the director of the Regional Centre for Training and Development of Civil Society (RCDCS) Dr Mutaal Girshab and the director of the UN Human Rights Training and Documentation Centre for South-West Asia and the Arab Region, Dr Abdelsalam Sidahmed.

*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): a milestone document proclaiming the inalienable rights which everyone is inherently entitled to as a human being regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Available in more than 500 languages, it is the most translated document in the world.

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