Zonta International commemorates Human Rights Day 2022

Each year on 10 December, Zonta International observes Human Rights Day, which commemorates the day in 1948 when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.

“As we often say, ‘women’s rights are human rights.’ Therefore, Zonta International believes in the protection of all human rights and that everybody must stand up for human rights,” said Zonta International President Ute Scholz.

Human Rights Day also concludes the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign and the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. Click here to be inspired by how our members advocated to end gender-based violence over the last two weeks.

Today, the United Nations is kicking off a yearlong campaign to promote and recognize the 75th anniversary of the UDHR, which will be celebrated in 2023.

The UDHR has served as a “foundation for an expanding system of human rights protection that today focuses also on vulnerable groups such as persons with disabilities, Indigenous peoples and migrants,” the UN said in its observance of Human Rights Day.

It is widely known that Eleanor Roosevelt was the first chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights and played a significant role in drafting the UDHR. However, there were other women who were crucial to the document’s adoption, including Hansa Mehta, Minerva Bernardino, Begum Shaista Ikramullah, Bodil Begtrup, Marie-Hélène Lefaucheux, Evdokia Uralova and Lakshmi Menon.

Just as these women shaped the milestone document that enshrines the rights of all human beings, women continue to defend human rights and pursue gender equity.

On Human Rights Day, Zonta International thanks its members for standing up for human rights and calls on them to continue supporting the rights of women, girls and all human beings.

10 DECEMBER 2022