The United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) Lagos has launched the first complete braille version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
It was to mark this year’s International Human Rights Day and the beginning of the year-long campaign commemorating the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the UDHR.
The event, which held at the National Human Rights Commission headquarters in Abuja had the Resident Coordinator of the UN system in Nigeria, Mr. Edward Kallon, Solicitor-General of the Federation, Dayo Akpata; the Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Christopher Thornley; and the Acting Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, Mrs. Oti Ovrawah in attendance.
Two students of Abuja School of the Blind, Miss Jacinta Odili and Mr. Honesty Ayama read UDHR Articles One and Seven respectively from the braille.
On the rationale behind the initiative to produce the Braille Version, Kallon said, “In strengthening the efforts to leave no one behind and deepen universal access and usage of the UDHR, the UNIC Lagos Nigeria, initiated and produced the Braille Version of the UDHR for the blind. We have heard of UDHR in sign language as well as in audio format. But, this Braille Version probably is the first of its kind in the world.”
He said the effort aligns with the directive of the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, that making global development inclusive of people with disabilities “must be an enhanced priority.”
Delivering the message of the UN Secretary-General, the Resident Coordinator urged people and leaders everywhere to stand up for all human rights – civil, political, economic, social and cultural – and for the values that underpin hopes for a fairer, safer and better world for all.
Ovrawah called on human rights defenders, activists, CSOs and NGOs to stand up for the rights of all, the IDPs, the refugees, the trafficked and those still in the captivity of Boko Haram and those in ‘slavery’ and held in bondage in Libya.
At the observance of the International Human Rights Day on the same day in Lagos, the Director of UNIC Lagos, Mr. Ronald Kayanja said: “the Braille version of the UDHR, therefore, aims to foster unity within diversity and enhance a sense of inclusiveness amongst the visually challenged, whose rights as human beings are enshrined in and protected by the UDHR.”
He disclosed that in Nigeria, the UDHR has been translated into Edo, Efik, Ibibio, Hausa, Igbo, Kanuri Yerwa, Tiv, Yoruba and Pidgin English. “This gives credence to the need to leave no one behind.”
The UDHR is a milestone document in the global history of human rights, and is infused with values and ideals drawn from the world over. Drafted by UN representatives from diverse cultural and technical backgrounds, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on December 10, 1948 as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations.
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