 Dear friends, on the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European Union pledges to respect your rights regardless of who you are, and to uphold your rights even when we may disagree with you. We will raise a voice. We will take action. We will use our rights to stand up for yours. This is not an act of charity that is not luxury. The European Union believes that human rights is central to addressing the major challenges of today's world, such as sustainable development and sustainable security. Thirteen countries in the world and the EU in September in New York at the United Nations created a partnership of good human rights stories. We pledged our commitment to the universality of human rights. We pledged our commitment to working closely with civil society in our countries and in the world, because we think that that is the best way to promote security and development. And we stated together in a joint declaration that when everyone's human rights are denied, everyone's rights are undermined, so we will stand up to support everyone's rights.