Universal Rights

It is 63 years today since the UN General Assembly established 10 December as Human Rights Day, to draw attention to The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And 20 years since the United Nations Human Rights Office was established.

This year Human Rights Day is marked by the theme of “20 YEARS: WORKING FOR YOUR RIGHTS.”

These human rights cut across all borders and boundaries. They are fundamental rights irrespective of race, colour, wealth, ethnicity, social background, and so on. Today I would like to focus on gender, which has often been used as an excuse to deny the most basic rights, often resulting in violence against women.

• Today also marks the end of the 16 Days Campaign for the Elimination of Violence Against Women that started on 25 November. My Embassy colleagues and I joined millions by wearing white ribbons throughout the 16 days to encourage not only women and girls but also boys and men to speak out against such violence.But we accompanied this symbolic act by some awareness raising activity: I was greatly inspired by two women, Anne Namakau Mutelo (the Namibian Ambassador to Addis Abana) and Dr Bogaletch Gebre (co-founder of Kembatti Mentti Gezzimma – KMG) who both made moving speeches at a reception we held on 27 November to mark the launch of the 16 Days Campaign. Yegna, Ethiopia’s first girl band, also performed several famous hits for our guests.In parallel, the band – which is linked to a radio drama promoting girls’ empowerment – launched its new video ‘Taitu’, designed to inspire girls through their lyrics as well as encouraging people to listen to the drama.
• We showed “Taitu” at the start of a discussion we organised last week at Addis Ababa University (AAU), with a panel comprising distinguished diplomats from Israel, the Netherlands and Ethiopia on “Women in Foreign Policy”. We hope the discussion will have inspired the student audience to aim high and aspire to leadership roles, regardless of their gender.
• At the end of the panel discussion, the Yellow Movement, a student group based at the AAU, held an interactive session with the audience to help them visualise a world free of gender based violence (GBV).  This not only raised awareness but secured pledges from the students and faculty members present to fight GBV.

The campaign ends today, but not the cause. So what are you doing today to create a GBV free world? All good ideas welcome.