Democracy is recognition of the rights of others

Observed by the international community every year on December 10, it commemorates the day the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted. This pioneering document set out for the first time the fundamental human rights to be universally protected.

Lofty ideals and wise words, but how can we translate them into action in light of the immense global challenges facing us today? Here, the theme for this year’s Human Rights Day proves instructive: “Stand up for someone’s rights today!” This means that human rights start with each of us and it is our responsibility to uphold them.

The European Union (EU) commends the TT Government and determined NGOs on the many advances made to this effect. Such notable progress, particularly in the areas of women’s and children’s rights, received further international recognition at the Human Rights Council in Geneva this year at a periodic review of the country’s human rights record.

These developments add to a robust package of existing rights, including access to universal education and healthcare, free and fair elections, and freedom of speech and assembly, among others.

There is of course room for improvement and the EU continues to actively promote the rights of those suffering from discrimination in the country. Take the British High Commission’s dedicated work to combat corruption; a societal ill whose corrosive effects are felt across the spectrum of human rights.

Meanwhile the EU’s efforts to promote gender-equality saw our active participation in the 16 Days of Activism on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, culminating today. We continue to support NGOs working in the area and are delighted to publicly announce for the first time that 2017 will be the official EU year for gender equality and tackling gender-based violence around the world.

Yet human rights are not the sole preserve of Parliament or international/ multilateral organisations, to be deliberated over in air-conditioned boardrooms and routine joint select committee meetings.

From Beetham to Barcelona, they’re in our everyday interactions and everybody can and must be their tireless champions.

As Eleanor Roosevelt (late First Lady of the US) famously said, “Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world...Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere.

Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.” Take up the gauntlet today for people with disabilities, women, the LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) community, indigenous peoples, children, migrants and anyone suffering at the hands of discrimination. Defend their rights in the workplace, the street, the school or the beach.

For it is through your individual actions that lofty ideals and wise words can change the world. Join the global movement and the European Union in standing up for someone’s rights today.

Lutz G?rgens Embassy of Germany Jos? Mar?a Fern?ndez L?pez de Turiso Embassy of Spain Sol?ne Crini?re Embassy of France Jules Bijl Embassy of the Netherlands Tim Stew, British High Commission Arend Biesebroek Delegation of the EU