Presidential Document2023-27485
Human Rights Day and Human Rights Week, 2023
Primary source
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Published
December 13, 2023
Signed
December 8, 2023
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 238 (Wednesday, December 13, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 238 (Wednesday, December 13, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 86257-86258]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27485]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 238 / Wednesday, December 13, 2023 /
Presidential Documents
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Title 3--
The President
[[Page 86257]]
Proclamation 10684 of December 8, 2023
Human Rights Day and Human Rights Week, 2023
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Seventy-five years ago, the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights captured a remarkable act of collective
hope. Drafted by a committee representing different
regions, faiths, and philosophies and adopted by the
United Nations General Assembly, the rights enumerated
in the declaration are universal and enduring. On Human
Rights Day and during Human Rights Week, we reaffirm
our commitment to upholding the equal and inalienable
rights of all.
The United States was founded on an idea, at once the
simplest and the most powerful idea in the history of
the world: that we are all created equal and endowed
with certain inalienable rights. Generations later, in
the wake of World War II and the Holocaust, the United
States joined countries around the world to create the
United Nations and enshrine that same idea in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Today, the United States--together with our partners
and allies--continues to defend fundamental freedoms
and human rights wherever they are under threat. We
stand with people everywhere defending their rights
against the forces of autocracy--demonstrating to the
world that the flame of liberty still lights the souls
of free people everywhere.
This year, we also affirmed our commitment to
democratic renewal globally at the second Summit for
Democracy, bringing together nearly 100 government
leaders and hundreds of representatives from civil
society and the private sector as well as journalists,
technologists, and youth leaders from around the world.
The Summit galvanized progress to protect human rights,
bolster democratic reforms, fight corruption, support
free and independent media, advance technology that
works for democracy, combat the misuse of technology,
and defend free and fair elections and political
processes.
I have often said that one of America's greatest
strengths is that we lead not by the example of our
power but by the power of our example. We are strongest
in the world when we live by our values at home, and we
must never cease working to uphold the dignity and
protect the rights of every person in this country and
promote protection of those same rights globally. That
is why my Administration has established the White
House Gender Policy Council, which works to ensure
women and girls enjoy equal rights and equal
participation in society by advancing the women, peace
and security agenda, preventing and responding to
gender-based violence, and more. We have worked to
strengthen civil rights for LGBTQI+ people at home and
around the world and to protect same-sex marriage. We
have led an intensive effort to counter the
proliferation and misuse of commercial spyware that has
enabled human rights abuses around the world. We are
working to address systemic racism, advance racial
equity, bolster support for underserved communities
throughout the Federal Government, address inequities
in our law enforcement and criminal justice systems,
and expand accessibility for people with disabilities.
As we look at today's global challenges online and
offline, from conflict, democratic backsliding, and
global pandemics to misinformation, the misuse of
technology, the climate crisis, and food insecurity,
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a bedrock
[[Page 86258]]
upon which we must tackle these issues and promote the
full enjoyment of all human rights.
Today, as we celebrate Human Rights Day, the start of
Human Rights Week, and the 75th anniversary of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, may we all
recommit to securing the equal rights of every member
of the human family and working together for the
advancement of all humankind. Together, we can--and we
will--bend the arc of history toward a freer and more
just world for all.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws
of the United States, do hereby proclaim December 10,
2023, as Human Rights Day and the week beginning
December 10, 2023, as Human Rights Week. I call upon
the people of the United States to mark these
observances with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
eighth day of December, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
eighth.
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(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2023-27485
Filed 12-12-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 13, 2023.
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