70th Human Rights Day Walk in Colombo

The International Human Rights Day will be celebrated this year under the theme ‘The White Night Walk’. Celebrations will be hosted by the Road to Rights Youth Organization on December 10.  The organisation is celebrating the event for the 5th consecutive year.

The walk will begin from Independence Square and participants will then move to Premakirthi de Alwis Mawatha. The walk will commence at 5 p.m. The organisers take this opportunity to invite all those interested in this national cause.  

The walk will commence with the participation of President Maithripala Sirisena who will be accompanied by ministers and several social advocates. All of them are joining hands to send the message across to the island nation as to how important human rights are.  

The walk will begin from Independence Square and participants will then move to Premakirthi de Alwis Mawatha. The walk will commence at 5 p.m. The organisers take this opportunity to invite all those interested in this national cause

70th year

This year marks the 70th International Human Rights Day. Thus this will be a wonderful opportunity to reflect on how human rights has been protected worldwide. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was established in 1948. Ever since it has acted as a guideline to protect humanity and uphold human dignity, which form the foundation for ensuring human rights.  

Each one of us has instilled a sense of pride and dignity within us and that is human nature. The established regulations of human rights ensures that your dignity is upheld during any situation whether it is; family, school, work place, hospitals and even the bus stop. Thereupon we can come across 30 situations when people are entitled to their human rights, all because they’re human. The humanity within us demands the need to protect each one of us.  

This pops the question ‘where is Sri Lanka placed on the road to human rights? Are our children treated humanely enough? Are our women protected? Are our labour rights protected? Do you earn a satisfying salary for your services? These questions will be best answered by the rising annual rape rate in our country which is 6.75%. Other points that can help answer this question are the vast unemployment and never-ending plea for favourable wages. Just consider the protests made and the petitions that grieved parties have forwarded.   

No one is alone

Still, in such a world of technology and development, people’s minds are narrow enough not to understand the fragility of children and the social responsibility they have towards protecting them. Child abuse not only takes place in the form of violence, they are abused verbally and mentally too. We tend to neglect our children and run to our workplaces.

We neglect our children, our wives, our husbands, our siblings, our parents and our friends. If we stop a minute to understand the difficulties they experience and build up a communication network, no one will have to face their fears alone.   

It’s time people come together and educate themselves and the youth about the basics of human rights. These rights were set forth by the United Nations in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The purpose of the ‘walk’ is to unite people and make human rights a reality. Through education we can end a war, discrimination and intolerance. Yet 69 years on, children aren’t educated about human rights at school.  Youth and adults still aren’t aware of basic Human Rights. The walk for Human Rights is an awareness program and the largest to be held, in connection with this day, in Sri Lanka.  

We neglect our children, our wives, our husbands, our siblings, our parents and our friends. If we stop a minute to understand the difficulties they experience and build up a communication network, no one will have to face their fears alone

Join hands with us in creating a network of support and care. Be present at independence Square on this day by 4.00 pm clad in white to create awareness and celebrate humanity.