1. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), as a common standard of achievement for all people and all nations, beginning with the historic passage “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” was adopted on 10 December 1948 on the UN General Assembly as a proclamation voted by the then United Nations Members. The preamble of the said Universal Declaration of Human Rights says “every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms”. Accordingly, the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission has, since its inception, been educating the general public to enhance their awareness of the rights contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights through a variety of measures.
2. To enable the entire public to understand more about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to foster positive opinions and observations of human rights, the Myanmar National Human Rights has taken the following measures in carrying out its educative activities:
(a) In all the educational talks, workshops and training, including internal stafftraining and lectures, organized and conducted by the Commission from 2011 until now, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was consistently included as a major subject.
(b) The text of the Universal Declaration of Human rights was translated from English to Myanmar and published in 2013, and additionally, it was translated also into a total of 21 ethnic languages, published and distributed to ensure easy access and understanding by the national races concerned regarding the rights contained in the Declaration.
(c) For the purpose of ensuring that the general public has easy access to and acquire knowledge of the rights contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, posters and pocket booklets of the Declaration were published and distributed in 2018 and 2021 respectively.
(d) To ensure the rights contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are known and understood by persons with impaired eyesight, the Declaration was published in Braille format and distributed in 2022 in cooperation with the School for the Blind (Kyimyindine).
3. The year 2023 is the 75th Anniversary of the adoption and proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In commemoration and honour of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is the significant heritage of humankind, educational activities related to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will be carried out all over the world as “75 UDHR Campaign” throughout the whole year up to the 75th International Human Rights Day which falls on 10 December 2023. To join the worldwide 75 UDHR Campaign, the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission has also planned to organize awareness-raising activities on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in various ways and means throughout 2023.
Myanmar National Human Rights Commission
Dated: 16 March 2023
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