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From December 4 to January 9, a thematic exhibition entitled "Dignity and Equality for All: the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights", dedicated to Human Rights Day and the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is open in the Official Documents department (room 207).
Human Rights Day was proclaimed by the decision of the United Nations General Assembly (resolution 217 (III)) in 1950 and is celebrated annually on 10 December. The date was not chosen by chance:on this day in 1948 the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The declaration was drafted in Paris by a group of representatives from different countries under the leadership of US First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. This landmark document proclaimed the inalienable rights inherent in every person regardless of his race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other beliefs, national or social origin, property, class or other status. The declaration was intended to prevent the recurrence of flagrant violations of human rights committed during the Second World War. The principles enshrined therein are no less relevant today than in 1948. The declaration is translated more often than any other document in the world: its text exists in more than 500 languages.
The Declaration establishes the equality and dignity of each person and provides that one of the basic duties of each government is to ensure for all people the opportunity to enjoy all their inalienable rights and freedoms.
The declaration and the commitments to respect its principles, adopted by the participating States, helped protect the dignity of millions of people and laid the foundations for a more just world. Although violations of human rights did not cease with the adoption of the Universal Declaration, it still helped to prevent many violations, provide justice for wrongful acts and strengthen national and international laws and guarantees in the field of human rights. The fact that the Declaration has stood the test of time testifies to the constant universality of its eternal values: equality, justice and human dignity.
Although the Declaration is not a binding document, it has become the core of the entire system of universal international human rights instruments adopted within the UN, a legal guideline and standard for dozens and hundreds of regional and bilateral international treaties, which together form an extensive types and content of human rights and freedoms. On the basis of it were developed other major international agreements. On December 16, 1966, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which came into force in 1976, were adopted by the UN General Assembly.
The exhibition offered to readers has more than 100 documents. Most of the exposition consists of documents of international organizations (UN, UNESCO, European Union, Council of Europe, etc.) in Russian and English languages: books, periodicals, UN mimeographed materials, brochures, booklets.
The exposition includes the following thematic sections:
- Human rights: history, theory, modernity
- International mechanisms for the protection of civil, political, social, economic and cultural human rights. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- Rights of women and children
- Refugee and migrant rights
- Minority and indigenous rights
- Elimination of racial discrimination and apartheid
- Human rights education
The exhibition will be of interest to specialists in the field of international law, world politics, international relations and human rights, as well as students, undergraduates, teachers, political and public figures and anyone interested in the state and realization of human rights in the modern world.
Useful Links:
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- Office of the High Commissioner
- 70 years of Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- History of the Document
- Human Rights Day (December 10)
Statutory bodies:
• Human Rights Council
• Special procedures of the Human Rights Council
• Complaint procedure in the Human Rights Council
Treaty bodies:
• Human Rights Committee (HRC)
• Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)
• Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
• Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
• Committee against Torture (CAT)
• Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT)
• Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
• Committee on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers (MWC)
• Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
• Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED)
The opening hours of the exhibition corresponds to the library’s opening hours.
Entrance to the exhibition is available by the library ticket or ticket of the library's social and cultural center.
The books presented in the exposition can be ordered in the electronic catalog of the National Library of Belarus.
For more info: (+375 17) 293 27 34.
Е-mail: pr@nlb.by
The article is created by the Official Documents Department.
