Human Rights Day and Human Rights Week, 2024

Proclamation 10871 of December 9, 2024

Human Rights Day and Human Rights Week, 2024

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

On Human Rights Day and during Human Rights Week, we
recommit to upholding the equal and inalienable rights
of all people.

America was founded on an idea--that every person is
created equal and deserves to be treated equally
throughout their lives. And 76 years ago today, after
the wreckage of 2 world wars and the Holocaust, the
United States joined countries around the globe to
enshrine this idea into a Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. We also helped establish the United
Nations, upholding the inherent dignity of every person
on the world stage and establishing a rules-based
international order. Today, our country continues to
stand with our partners and allies to defend human
rights and fundamental freedoms around the world--from
combatting threats to silence and intimidate human
rights defenders like journalists to championing
democracy, fair elections, and the universal human
rights to freedoms of association, peaceful assembly,
religion, and expression. When crises erupt, we protect
civilians from mass atrocities, promote accountability
for those responsible for human rights violations and
abuses, seek to free political prisoners, and create
space for civilian dialogue. This year, we also
recognize another landmark achievement in the global
fight for human rights with the 40th anniversary of the
adoption of the Convention Against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
And we continue to stand with free people everywhere
who are bravely fighting for justice and defending life
and liberty at home and around the world.

My Administration has been committed to protecting the
dignity and rights of people here at home and around
the globe. We established the White House Gender Policy
Council to advance the rights and opportunities of
women and girls across domestic and foreign policy--
from preventing and responding to gender-based violence
to promoting participation in peace and security
efforts. We rejoined the United Nations Human Rights
Council to highlight and address pressing human rights
concerns. From the beginning of my Administration, we
have worked to protect the rights of LGBTQI+ people,
working toward a future where no one is targeted or
persecuted because of who they are. We are working to
ensure all people are treated equally and have equal
access to opportunities, no matter who they are or
where they come from. We have made progress in bringing
new investments to communities that have too often been
left behind and in expanding accessibility for people
with disabilities. And we have worked to advance
technology in support of democracy and internet
freedom, while leading important efforts to stop the
expansion and misuse of commercial spyware, which has
enabled human rights abuses around the world.

I have made the preservation of democracy--the best
tool for protecting human rights--the central cause of
my Presidency. That is why we convened the Summit for
Democracy to strengthen democratic institutions, root
out corruption, promote gender equality and human
rights, and reject political violence. There will
always be forces that pull the world apart: aggression,
extremism, chaos, cynicism, and a desire to retreat
from the world and go it alone. The task of our time is
to ensure that the forces holding

us together are stronger than those that are pulling us
apart. Together, we can make sure our shared values and
determination withstand any challenge.

Today and this week, may we reaffirm our commitment to
standing up for human rights at home and around the
world. The future will be won by those who unleash the
full potential of their people to live with dignity,
prosper, think freely, innovate, and exist and love
openly without fear. Together, nothing is beyond our
capacity.

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,
2024, as Human Rights Day and the week beginning
December 10, 2024, 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
ninth day of December, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
ninth.