NewsNetworkToday: HUMAN RIGHTS DAY, DECEMBER 10 UNTV

NewsNetworkToday: 10 December 2009 - UNTV - United Nations: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged all people to observe Human Right Day on 10 December.

On the occasion of this years Human Rights Day (10 December), UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on people around the world to rally in defense of those targeted by ethnic strife, hate speech, xenophobia and other forms of discrimination.
In a video message for the Day, Ban said abstract political commitments such as international treaties were not enough to protect the vulnerable.
SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General:
Discrimination is outlawed by international treaties. But abstract commitments are not enough. We must confront inequality and intolerance wherever they are found.

Emphasizing on the theme of this years Human Rights Day, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, added that non-discrimination should be an unofficial theme every day, every year, for everyone.
SOUNDBITE (English) Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:
Everyone should enjoy all human rights. No one should be excluded. The concept of nondiscrimination lies at the heart of human rights.

The UN special rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, Githu Muijai, called the discrimination of migrant workers one of the most critical contemporary issues.
SOUNDBITE (English)
Githu Muigai, UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance:

South Africa, where the main observance of this years Human Rights Day will take place, has itself been struggling with an influx of thousands of Zimbabweans crossing the border every month in search of work and security.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) last month condemned xenophobic attacks targeting some 3,000 Zimbabweans and other foreigners in South Africa s Western Cape Province. A wave of similar country-wide violence in May 2008 killed some 60 people and left tens of thousands of foreigners homeless.

The High Commissioner, who will be in South Africa to mark this years Human Rights Day, said that discrimination has no beneficial aspects for society whatsoever, and urged people everywhere to embrace diversity.

SOUNDBITE (English) Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:
Discrimination feeds mistrust, resentment, violence, crime and insecurity and makes no economic sense, since it reduces productivity. It has no beneficial aspects for society whatsoever. NewsNetworkToday:
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