The International Human Rights Day is an annual event that falls every 10th December. The Uganda Human Rights Commission in a partnership with the Human Rights Network, Uganda (HURINET) and other civil society organisations once again came together to commemorate the day with a series of activities, under the theme ‘ Embrace diversity, end discrimination in Uganda.’
Despite the fact that Uganda has made tremendous progress in respecting and promoting awareness for human rights hence recognizing the inherent dignity of all her citizens as the foundation of justice among her people, awareness of the need to promote non-discrimination among communities, the levels of awareness of civic duties and obligations in the various categories of the population is still low.
Efforts by institutions such as the Uganda Human Rights Commission, Human Rights Network (U) and other human rights civil society organisations to create awareness of the fundamental human rights as entailed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in general and the provision on equality and non-discrimination in particular, are only a drop in the ocean. There is therefore the urgent need for government, political leaders, civil society organizations and national human rights institutions to make a concerted campaign through advocacy and the various media to pay special attention to the principle of non-discrimination.
Annual and periodic reports by the Uganda human Rights Commission to Parliament and also reports by the other human rights organizations on the situation of human rights in the country, underpin the urgent need for a mass awareness campaign on the subject in order to empower citizens with knowledge of their fundamental human rights and mainstream the idea of non-discrimination in all government policies and plans. Human rights violations such as torture, child negligence, prolonged remands in prisons and inadequate health facilities and lack of policies to cater for People With Disabilities, People Living with HIV/AIDs and other vulnerable groups, are still a challenge in Uganda. Carrying out a mass sensitization campaign on the fundamental human rights as contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) will be a great advocacy tool for the improvement of human rights conditions in Uganda.
|
