Human Rights Day 2021 Message by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

The past two years have painfully demonstrated the intolerable cost of soaring inequalities.

Equality is at the heart of human rights.

That doesn’t mean we must all look the same, think the same or act the same.

Quite the opposite.

It means that we embrace our diversity and demand that all be treated without any kind of discrimination.

That no matter who we are, who we love or where we live, we have equal opportunities to live in dignity and to pursue our dreams.

That from the moment we are born, anywhere on this planet, we have the same rights.

To life, health and education.

To speak our minds without fear.

To enjoy our days in a healthy environment.

All of us.

Equality is about empathy and solidarity.

About understanding that, as a common humanity, our only way forward is to work together for the common good.

But the inequalities inflamed by COVID-19 are pushing us backwards.

It is about time we pushback. And bring them down.

On this Human Rights Day, I invite you to join me in lending your name and your efforts to equality.

So that we can recover better, fairer and greener from this crisis.

So that we can rebuild societies that are more resilient and sustainable.

So that we can stand up for human rights. For all.

Michelle Bachelet