Today marks the 75th year since the Declaration of Human Rights, a landmark document adopted by the United Nations which outlines our fundamental human rights.
Human rights are the basic freedoms and protections that every person deserves. These freedoms include fair treatment, dignity, and the opportunity for every person to live a good life. These are fundamental principles that aim to protect us all from harm, discrimination, and injustice. It is an essential ingredient for a world where everyone is treated with respect and equality.
The Declaration remains a crucial reminder of the fundamental values that unite us all—fairness, equality, and the importance of treating every person with dignity, regardless of who they are or where they come from.
These rights are required to protect sexual and reproductive rights. In order to have bodily autonomy and take care of your family, you need to be able to live safely, have access to healthcare, food, water, and be able to move freely in your community.
Fundamental human rights include the right to an adequate standard of living for the health and well-being of individuals and their families including safe shelter, food, water, medical care and social protection, and the right to health. Currently, Palestinian women cannot access health services, and may be forced to give birth in dangerous and unhygienic conditions with no medical assistance or supplies.
As reproductive rights advocates, we cannot separate reproductive rights from other human rights. Human rights are interconnected and indivisible.
The realization of sexual and reproductive rights requires freedom from state violence, oppression, and injustice.
On this Human Rights Day, we urge world leaders to recommit to centering human rights in all aspects of governance, from the delivery of health services to the ending of wars. We also urge you to join us in calling for a permanent ceasefire in occupied Palestinian territories, and for the global community to uphold human rights for everyone, in Palestine and around the globe. Send a copy of the joint letter here.
Together, we will fight to make human rights not just a utopian ideal but a realistic pathway to a more equitable future.