International Human Rights Day: ‘Our rights, our future, now’

International Human Rights Day was celebrated on 10 December, a date that marks the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations in 1948, and with which the Ombudsman associates himself.

Human rights are a matter for all of us, an everyday issue. You only have to go out into the street or watch the news to see that, 76 years on, there is still a long way to go to fully fulfil them, in Portugal and around the world. Poverty, social exclusion, inequality, discrimination and violence continue to affect far too many people, regardless of their circumstances or condition.

It is therefore essential to commemorate this day. A day in which we celebrate human rights and the progress that has been made, of which there are many, but more than anything, in which we reflect, with the impetus to act now, on the challenges that still remain, which leave us with an unrealised future.

‘Our rights, our future, now’ is the name of the campaign promoted by the United Nations to highlight the concrete impact of human rights, highlighting examples of success and practical solutions to the most important global issues. This initiative calls for a collective mobilisation to protect everyone’s rights, both individual and collective, as an essential response to building a more just, equitable and promising future.

It calls for commitments that we have to take off the drawing board and translate into the lives of individuals and communities, moving from aspiration to the realisation of human rights. These are commitments that bind us all, an individual and collective responsibility that unites us as human beings, inseparable from the dignity that is due to everyone simply for being human.

Because realising human rights is everyone’s responsibility, and the challenges of fully realising them persist, we therefore need renewed commitment from everyone, from public decision-makers to civil society, from citizens to schools. This responsibility is also shared by the Ombudsman, whose DNA, by constitutional definition, is the promotion and protection of fundamental rights, and to whom everyone can turn.

‘Our rights, our future, now’. I borrowed this title because protecting human rights means protecting the present and the future. To this end, education – in itself a human right – is fundamental, starting from an early age to instil in our children and young people an awareness of human rights, and passing on basic values such as solidarity, justice and equality. This is also, once again, everyone’s responsibility: schools, families, communities, but also the Ombudsman.

It is in this spirit that the Ombudsman will launch the ‘The future of rights is now’ competition in 2025, the year in which the institution celebrates its 50th anniversary, inviting children and young people from all over the country to reflect creatively on the most pressing human rights issues in their daily lives, which can then be materialised in the format that best represents them. These works will then be put together in an exhibition at the Ombudsman’s headquarters, extending the reflection to anyone who wants to visit us.
Because I believe that all of us, regardless of who we are or where we come from, want ‘our rights, our future, now’.

Maria Lúcia Amaral
The Ombudsperson