Celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Cambodia

10 December 2007 - 10 December 2008

A year-long celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10 December 1948. Since then, to commemorate this landmark, 10 December each year has been designated as International Human Rights Day.

The year 2008 saw the sixtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 and the fifteenth anniversary of the Cambodian Constitution—which includes a declaration of human rights—in 1993.

To mark these important anniversaries, the OHCHR Cambodia Country Office has launched a number of initiatives aimed at highlighting the importance of these documents in improving the lives of ordinary people throughout Cambodia. These initiatives will continue into 2009 and beyond. The High Commissioner launched the worldwide anniversary celebrations on Human Rights Day 2007. The celebrations ran throughout the year and culminated on Human Rights Day 2008.

The logo below was designed by the Office of the High Commissioner for use throughout the year in connection with the celebrations.

Click here for more information on the worldwide UDHR60 celebrations...


	What is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948. The Declaration sets out a broad range of fundamental human rights and freedoms to which all men and women, everywhere in the world, are entitled, without any distinction. Since it was adopted, the Declaration has come to be considered as "a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations". Representatives of all regions and legal traditions contributed to the drafting of the text. The Declaration served as the foundation for an expanding system of human rights treaties which help to enshrine its principles in interational law. Under article 31 of Cambodian Constitution, the Declaration is part of Cambodian national law. The first article of the Declaration describes the essential ideal of human rights: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights".

Human Rights Day 2008

The United Nations in Cambodia has joined together to mark the UDHR60 on Human Rights Day – a national holiday in Cambodia. The celebrations are united by the theme:

សិទិ្ធមនុស្ស សិទិ្ធយើង

[Set Mnuh Set Yoen] or in English “Human Rights Our Rights”. The aim was to convey the simple but important message that the rights in the UDHR belong to everyone equally. Key events include:

Street banners across the main boulevards bearing human rights messages.
Parade and open-air celebration of human rights day at Wat Botum in central Phnom Penh.
Provincial event organized by OHCHR’s regional office in Battambang.
A celebration of human rights through Cambodian culture in Chaktomuk Theatre in Phnom Penh organized by the UNCT in association with the French Embassy and the Centre culturel français. The events featured Cambodian music, song, dance and theatre grouped around a human rights theme. The event also launched the new UDHR storybook published by the Office.