[JURIST] Tuesday marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) [text], and is celebrated as International Human Rights Day [official website]. The occasion will be commemorated with a number of special events [schedule, PDF] at the UN headquarters in New York City, including the presentation of the UN Prize in the Field of Human Rights [official website] and a special meeting of the General Assembly [official website]. The theme for the 2008 International Human Rights Day is "Dignity and justice for all of us." UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon [official website] said [statement text]:

On this Human Rights Day, it is my hope that we will all act on our collective responsibility to uphold the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration. We can only honour the towering vision of that inspiring document when its principles are fully applied everywhere, for everyone.

We must work for the full implementation of human rights on the ground in a way that affects and improves the lives of the men, women and children who are all entitled, regardless of their race, sex, religion, nationality, property or birth, to realization of each and every right set forth in the Universal Declaration.