December 10, Universal Declaration of Human Rights. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights

Torre Annunziata
Marina del Sole

Today, December 10, we celebrate the International Day of Human Rights. And it is sad to say but unfortunately, even today, many children, many women and many men, certainly cannot celebrate, given that their rights are still not recognized as they should.

Human rights are born and are affirmed even in small things, sometimes so small, for us, that we hardly notice. But it is essential instead to always protect, in any case, the rights of those around us, making a constant effort to understand and satisfy the needs of others, even if they are not ours. Without shared action to guarantee these rights in all circumstances, next to our homes, we will never be able to achieve peace in the whole world.

That December 10, 1948, the United Nations assembly, despite being composed of people with different and distant cultures, proclaiming the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, showed us that diversity is a value and that union and solidarity are a component fundamental of a path capable of guaranteeing peace and civil coexistence.

We are going through a dark period dominated by frustration. The feeling is often that of being in an environment where one feels excluded, one feels insecure, one is afraid of the different. Thus frustration accumulates, which then becomes anger. And anger divides, drives away, marginalizes, is destructive.

This December 10th, I believe and hope, comes at the right time because the Universal Declaration of Human Rights reminds us that this precious document based on dignity, equality and respect for and for all individuals, concerns us closely and if we learn to know it and appreciate it will give us the power to enforce our rights and our most important values.

Today more than ever it is urgent to recover the principles of humanity and civil coexistence that are the basis of the Declaration and that the rhetoric of fear is trying to dismantle.

I am convinced that it is essential to acknowledge that the realization of a true democratic society necessarily passes through the total and convinced inclusion of each individual, to whom resources and opportunities for growth and development are to be offered regardless of their origins and initial condition.

People’s life, our life, unlike what we are often led to believe, always has a meaning and a purpose. The difficulties we encounter in managing everyday life are often increased, if not created, by a cultural problem that conditions relationships between people from different and distant cultures, creating a distance that prevents integration.

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and must act towards each other. Thus states the first article of the Declaration. I believe the time has come, all together, to transform these words into concrete acts: it is urgent to build functional bridges to break down every physical and social barrier.

Peace,
Salvatore Cimmino