Human Rights Day is recognised internationally on 10th December every year. 2018 marks the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – adopted on this date in 1948.
This document declares the rights which everyone is inherently entitled to as a human being – regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. It is recognised as the most translated document in the world, available in more than 500 languages.
In the month leading up to the anniversary, a series of ‘Shine Your Light’ events have been held around the world, highlighting a variety of ways in which human rights are central to our everyday lives, whoever and wherever we may be.
Article 25 of the Declaration affirms the right of everyone to “a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being.” In Fiji, they recently shone a light on this right of everyone to a healthy planet. A healthy environment is crucial to allow us the opportunity to exercise our human rights. This event further highlighted the dramatic impact that climate change and small changes in sea level are having on small island developing States and their sustainable development.
It is easy to take our basic human rights for granted. Human Rights Day offers a reminder that there is still much to do in order to promote and protect human rights. There are an estimated 40.3 million people in modern slavery around the world. In the UK alone, the number has been put as 136,000.
Hotel and hospitality organisations are particularly at risk because of high turnover of staff and goods, which usually results in complex, multi-layered processes, and the outsourcing of recruitment to third party agencies. All of this means transparency is often limited. The Shiva Foundation has developed the Stop Slavery Blueprint specifically designed to assist hospitality businesses in the fight against modern slavery.
Businesses can further uphold human rights through sustainability reporting by enabling them to assess their positive and negative impacts on economic, environmental and social issues. There are also excellent business reasons for engaging in sustainability reporting.
Considerate can offer support with reporting & reviewing internal processes – get in touch to find out more, and #StandUp4HumanRights.
