President Akufo-Addo (middle) with some members the gathering
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Monday, 29th January, 2018, launched the 70th anniversary celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with a call to ensure that the fight for the protection of and respect for human rights is sustained.
Speaking at an event to commemorate the anniversary of the Declaration, on the sidelines of the 30th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, President Akufo-Addo noted that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, since its adoption on 10th December, 1948, had been the basis of considerable advances in the universal protection of human rights.
With Africa having overcome several trials and tribulations such as slavery, imperialism, colonialism, tyranny and dictatorship, the president indicated that the African peoples continue to chalk significant successes in advancing the promotion of and respect for human rights in their governance.
He noted that the rise and spread of democracy in Africa has meant that “we continue to strengthen and protect the institutions and culture of democratic governance; to respect human rights, religious freedom, individual liberties, the rights of minorities and women; to build strong market economies and facilitate the free movements of people, knowledge, goods and services across member states.”
The fight for freedom that animated the colonised peoples of Africa in the 20th century, he added, is one of the great blows for the advancement of human rights and dignity in human history.
“Now, those of us, who are heirs and beneficiaries of that heroic struggle for freedom, have a calling to ensure that respect for human rights is woven into the fabric of the body politic of our various states, in our respective regions, and on the continent, in this 21st Century,” the president added.
President Akufo-Addo continued, “We, therefore, have a sacred task to ensure that the fight for the protection and respect of human rights remains a constant one. Eternal vigilance, it is said, is the price of liberty. So, it is, also, with human rights. We can never ever let our guard down in ensuring that our governance institutions are respectful of human rights.
“We have an obligation to our past, our present and our future, to uphold the principles of democratic accountability, the rule of law, respect for human rights and individual liberties and freedoms, which must form the bedrock of our national, regional and continental development and prosperity.”
It was the hope of President Akufo-Addo that the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Declaration “would witness an Africa bereft of all such pernicious tendencies, and a flowering of human rights in all its implications across the entire length and breadth of Africa.”