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Universality of Rights Flyer

The side event on October 23, 2018, during the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly focuses on the universality of human rights and cultural diversity, marking the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It highlights the threats to these principles from various actors and the misuse of cultural rights justifications. The panel will feature discussions from notable figures, including UN Special Rapporteur Karima Bennoune, emphasizing the need for a renewed commitment to universality and cultural diversity.

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21 views1 page

Universality of Rights Flyer

The side event on October 23, 2018, during the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly focuses on the universality of human rights and cultural diversity, marking the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It highlights the threats to these principles from various actors and the misuse of cultural rights justifications. The panel will feature discussions from notable figures, including UN Special Rapporteur Karima Bennoune, emphasizing the need for a renewed commitment to universality and cultural diversity.

Uploaded by

jothika vs
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Side event in conjunction with 73rd session of the Third Committee

of the UN General Assembly

The Universality of Human Rights,


Cultural Diversity and Cultural Rights:
A Cultural Rights Celebration of the 70th Anniversary of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

23 October 2018
5.30 pm - 6.30 pm
Church Centre, 10th floor (777 UN Plaza)

The universality of human rights is one of the most important principles codified in international
law. It is the central idea of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and a foundational
aspect of the entire human rights system. But as we mark the 70th anniversary of the adoption of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 2018, universality is under sustained
attack, from both the political right and left, from State and non-State actors, including
extremists, fundamentalists and populists around the world, and even from some academics,
including those who misuse culture and cultural rights justifications.

Simultaneously, respect for cultural diversity is also threatened. For some, cultural diversity is
still wrongly understood as being in opposition to universality, who misuse it as an excuse for
violations of the very universal human rights within which its enjoyment is explicitly embedded.
It is also denied by those who seek to impose monolithic identities and ways of being, and who
advocate various forms of supremacy and discrimination.

The side event panel will examine the cultural rights approach to the universality of human
rights, and the close interrelationship between universality and cultural diversity. The UN
Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Karima Bennoune, will also discuss her current
report to the General Assembly (A/73/227) focusing on the current threats to universality, calling
for foundational renewal and vigorous defence of this principle, and recognition of its close
interrelationship with cultural diversity.

Panellists
• Wole Soyinka, Nigerian playwright, poet and essayist, Literature Nobel Prize winner
(1986)
• Karima Bennoune, Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights
• Zarizana Abdul Aziz, Director of the Due Diligence Project

**No registration required. For more information, please email Omair unrep@[Link]

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