Another Human Rights Day-What Does that Mean?

"The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) turns 60 on 10 December 2008. On Human Rights Day 2007, the United Nations Secretary General launched a year-long UN system-wide advocacy campaign to mark this important milestone. The initiative celebrates the Declaration and the promise that has made this document so enduring: “Dignity and justice for all of us”."
(http://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Pages/60UDHRIntroduction.aspx)

So where do I see the world at this point? Last year at this time I would have been a cynic, but I believe that with the Obama election in the U.S., the world can begin thinking again, thinking about the grey areas that Bush denied people from exploring. The black and white of the "for us or against us" mentality created the enemy-ally, terror-peace, religious-secular dichotomies that shifted the thinking of many nations. With black and white politics came the polarization of states, the allowance of heads of state to marginalize people, and disregard for negotiation, compromise, and ultimately understanding. Obama brings critical thinking and discussion to both America and to the world. I really hope that this will create a trickle affect which will begin to unravel the "evil politics" of an ignorant "republican regime".

With that being said, my cynicism remains in the background; no matter the optimism created, there are still human rights violations committed on a daily basis in every part of the world. You just need to read my previous story taken from Somalia to see what still goes on. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is indeed a vision of where we should be, it will probably never happen, because the declaration is just a set of principles which are difficult to enforce in both legal and societal arenas. It is however still a vision we can strive towards!!!