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What are human rights?
“Human rights are what no one can take away from you.” René Cassin, (an author of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Human rights are the basic standards that we need to be safe, to be happy, to grow and achieve our best.
All people have human rights. You have them wherever you are- in the playground, at school, at home, when you are in your local community or when you’ve travelled somewhere new.
Human rights are underpinned by a set of common values, including fairness, respect, equality, dignity and freedom.
There are many different human rights, reflecting our basic needs across all parts of our lives. You can see them here.
Why are human rights important?
To allow everyone to reach their full potential
To make sure everyone can live a happy, healthy and safe life
To recognise all people are individuals and not the property of others
To make sure decisions made by governments are fair
How were modern day human rights created?
During the Second World War millions of people lost their lives and many people wanted to avoid these horrors, particularly the Holocaust, happening again. Creating a set of human rights was a way of safeguarding people and their rights.
In 1948 the United Nations (UN), a global organisation with nearly every country is a member, was created to help countries to work together to make the world a more peaceful and better place for everyone. The UN created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) a list of human rights that everyone is entitled to.
Although the UDHR is not legally binding, it has led to the creation of a range of international, regional and domestic human rights conventions and laws. For example:
• The United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
• The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)
• The UK Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA).
You can find out more about human rights by watching these videos.
Human rights explained in 2 minutes
What do kids think about human rights?
To explore more about human rights you can
Create
A superhero with superpowers to fix it with a kit produced by Child Rights International Network. The kit encourages the design of outside-of-the-box solutions to some of our most pressing environmental issues. Audience for all.
Teach
Children as defenders of human rights toolkit produced by the Scottish Children’s Parliament and the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland. Excellent tips about taking a rights-based approach and has lots of activities to show how to become a human rights defender. Audience for all.
Amnesty International have produced a range of activities related to human rights including exploring rights in the classroom, we are all born free and how rights apply to everyday life. Audience 5 to 11.
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