In partnership with York Regional Police, Youth for Human Rights Canada commemorated the 75th anniversary of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on the theme of “Shining the Light on Human Rights Education”. The event was held at the Community Safety Village last week where the Human Rights Education Classroom is situated.
10 December 2023 marks the 75th anniversary of one of the world’s most monumental pledges for human rights under the UDHR which contains fundamental human rights to be universally protected.
One of the main drafters of the Declaration was Canadian John Peters Humphrey an international hero who devoted his whole life for human rights. He worked closely with Eleanor Roosevelt, the Chairperson of the UN’s Human Rights Commission, as the Director of the UN’s Division of Human Rights.
Speakers included YRP Inspector Kolin Alexander and former YRP Superintendent, Ricky Veerappan, who both spoke about their participation as guest speakers at Youth for Human Rights International’s 17th Annual Youth Summit held this summer at the United Nations in New York. Their main message was to emphasize the application of policing through the lens of human rights.
Ms. Zanana Akande, a human rights advocate who has worked for many years promoting and encouraging racial harmony, spoke about being constantly alert and vigilant in protecting the human rights that one has as they can be taken away very rapidly.
Dr. Mary Shuttleworth, Founder and President of Youth for Human Rights International, an educator who has circled the globe 17 times to more than 90 countries including Canada, meeting with government officials, community leaders, educators and millions of students promoting the UDHR sent in a recorded message congratulating York Regional Police and the Community Safety Village for their dedication in spreading the message of human rights education.
The next two speakers made the event historic.
Ernie Kuechmeister, the last standing family member of the Humphrey family, shared some family stories and provided a better insight in the valuable contributions his father-in-law made to have everyone’s human rights respected.
Alan John Hobbins, author, literary executor of John Peters Humphrey’s writings and Librarian Emeritus from Montreal McGill University, was the famous person who discovered the original drafts of the UDHR that Mr. Humphrey had prepared in 1947.
For 7 years, Mr. Hobbins worked with Mr. Humphrey up to the time when he passed away in 1995 at the age of 95. Mr. Hobbins prepared a 10-minute recorded video presentation containing behind the scenes stories on how the Declaration came about. As well, it included examples of Mr. Humphrey’s dedication in overcoming obstacles to achieve his work in creating a document that would help inspire future generations to accept responsibility for continuing the quest for human rights for everyone.
Nicole Crellin, Youth for Human Rights Canada Director, introduced four Grade 9 students who shared with the audience their reasons why these human rights should be part of the school curriculum so as to make this a better world and a more peaceful one. This was very well received by the audience members who were impressed by the impact of their messages.
Ms. Crellin also awarded Ms. Akande, Mr. Kuechmeister and Mr. Hobbins with a Human Rights Award for their extensive contributions to the advancement and promotion of human rights education.
The commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the UDHR could not have been complete without the outstanding performances of Morpheus Richards, Chris Birkett, Dr. Draw and Liberty Silver, who shared their musical talent in promoting human rights education.
Youth for Human Rights is the youth component of United for Human Rights and was founded in 2001 to educate youth in their human rights. They offer a free interactive online course at www.youthforhumanrights.org as an introduction to these rights so that they are known and people can then defend these for themselves and others.
