�山����

The work of the �山����and its partners never stops against human traffickers in West and Central Africa, who force people to risk their lives on dangerous journeys across the Sahara Desert and Mediterranean Sea. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively and disproportionately affected girls and women, resulting in a shadow pandemic that has hampered prevention efforts on harmful practices, including . The has adapted interventions that ensure the integration of female genital mutilation in humanitarian and post-crisis response. In the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (6 February), we reimagine a world that enables girls and women to have voice, choice, and control over their own lives.

Mukhamadjon and his student prepare for a fight at Uzbekistan’s Taekwondo Federation. Mukhamadjon was born to ethnic Uzbek parents in the Kyrgyz Republic in August 1991, just four months before the Soviet Union collapsed. Towards the end of 1992, the family moved to Namangan, but they were too late to claim citizenship and their son became stateless. “I was the Uzbek champion in kickboxing and there were moments when my coach wanted to send me for international championships abroad, but … there would always be problems with the visa,” he says. “When it came to my sporting career, it was an obstacle.” Mukhamadjon Turgunov became an Uzbek citizen this year after being stateless for 28 of his 29 years.

Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and more.  Everyone is entitled to these rights, without discrimination. Since its inception, the �山����maintains human rights as one of its three pillars, in addition to peace and security and sustainable development.

has condemned the killing of 59 media workers in 2020, among them four women. With 22 killings each, the Latin America and the Caribbean Region and the Asia and the Pacific Region registered the highest number of fatalities in the profession, followed by the Arab States Region with nine, and Africa with six. Overall, 2020 saw one of the lowest yearly tolls recorded by UNESCO over the past decade, during which 888 journalists and media workers paid the ultimate price for informing the public. In 2019, UNESCO condemned the killing of 57 journalists, 99 in 2018.

This year’s Human Rights Day focuses on building back better from the COVID-19 pandemic by ensuring human rights are central to recovery. We will reach our common global goals only if we are able to create equal opportunities for all, address the failures exposed and exploited by COVID-19, and apply human rights standards to tackle entrenched and systematic exclusion and discrimination. 10 December reaffirms the importance of human rights in re-building the world we want, the need for global solidarity as well as our interconnectedness and shared humanity. the history of Human Rights Day.

Freedom of religion or belief is the basic human right, which plays an important role to combat religious hatred, incitement and violence. However, acts of intolerance and violence in the name of religion or belief, against individuals, including against persons belonging to religious communities and religious minorities, continue around the world. The number and intensity of such incidents, often criminal in nature, are increasing. Through the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief (22 August), the United Nations condemns the violence.

We all can do something against racism. You too. Join and leading personalities from all over the world in denouncing mounting racial discrimination. UNESCO has been on the forefront of the fight against racism since its creation in 1945. In 1978, it adopted the Declaration on Race and Racial Prejudice which reaffirms that “All human beings belong to a single species and are descended from a common stock. They are born equal in dignity and rights and all an integral part of humanity.”

The is an inter-governmental body within the �山����system, based in Geneva. It is made up of 47 States and can discuss all human rights issues and situations that require its attention throughout the year. It is meeting to adopt its programme of work for the year and to select country rapporteurs for its (UPR) Working Group in 2023. One of the main features of the Council, the UPR asks States to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to fulfil their human rights obligations. 

The term “human rights” was mentioned seven times in the UN's founding , making the promotion and protection of human rights a key purpose and guiding principle of the Or