International Human Rights Day, celebrated every year on 10 December, commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN General Assembly in 1948. The Declaration was a breakthrough as the first ever document to deal with human rights on a universal and global scale. Nowadays it constitutes a basis for the protection of human rights within the UN framework.

Poland attaches special importance to the celebrations of the International Human Rights Day. We see it as an opportunity to recall the ideals that inspired the authors of the Declaration as well as to reflect on the human rights respect and observance in today’s world.

The key element in the struggle against poverty is to guarantee the respect of basic human rights of the most needy that will allow them to live in dignity. The importance of human rights enforcement, which constitutes one of the pillars of the UN activity, is ever increasing. Human rights protection and respect is a universal duty.

The importance of the newly established Human Right Council cannot be overestimated. The Government of the Republic of Poland expects the Council to be an efficient instrument that will assure a rapid response of the international community to any flagrant breaches of human rights, regardless of where they may occur and who the perpetrators are.