International Solidarity for Human Rights
“Freedom, Equality, Justice and Peace”
By: Maria Burn

At an early age, children are taught the interactive song, and quirky game, “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” to learn about the human body and build essential motor skills. It’s time to arm the youth with another set of tools essential to their development; their human rights. Perhaps through a song or a game, learning about the equipment that protects us from discrimination, inequality and slavery are just as important as learning about the human body, for both are inherent and inalienable.
Let’s introduce a new song, “Freedom, Equality, Justice and Peace” to learn about The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). This document, proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, sets out the fundamental human rights to be protected universally. The recognition of the inherent, equal, inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.
The UDHR is made up of thirty articles that embody the rights inherent to all human beings regardless of place of residence, nationality, sex, ethnicity, color, status or religion. These thirty articles dictate the rights that are indivisible, universal, equal, nondiscriminatory and interdependent. Yet, just as the development of a child is dependent on more than just an interactive song or game, the realization and protection of these rights depend on constant teaching and education. These rights must be observed and recognized by all, for all. It begins like a catchy song with a clear message. Sing, read, rap, dance, and speak carrying the powerful message that human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights endowed with reason and conscience to act in a sprit of brotherhood.
Just as a child must build interdependent motor skills to be able to perform complex nerve and muscle acts to produce movement, one must build ones ability to perform using the interdependent rights we inherently have. For like all the nerves and muscles in the body these human rights are all dependent on each other. The improvement of one right will facilitate the advancement of the others. Similarly, the deprivation of one right will adversely affect another.