"10 DECEMBER: WORLD HUMAN RIGHTS DAY"
Today, the international Human Rights movement has many dimensions. Professionals and activists take on a variety of roles, as diplomats, NGO campaigners and ordinary citizens who participate in the development of the shared vision created by the Declarat
Luigi Bisogno 10/12/2022 0
“Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world […] All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights […] everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person… all are equal before the law.”
With these fundamental words, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognized that each human right – civil, cultural, economic, political and social one – belonged inherently to all people, coming from all over the world and with no regard to sex, race and religion. The Declaration is certainly the milestone of modern human rights law.
Many of the principles that underpin the modern human rights law can be traced back centuries, and even further. Religious texts and writings of ancient philosophers provide a fertile source - and I am referring to the so-called ‘natural law’ and all its interpretations through history of humankind.
From such a standpoint, fundamental rights and the protection of human dignity are - and always have been - our entitlement. Following this natural law perspective, the Declaration is more of a codification of existing principles than an exercise in creative lawmaking.
The most direct ancestor of the language in the Declaration is the famous Magna Carta imposed by the English barons upon the King of England in 1215. It sets out certain rights for “freemen” and it affirmed that even the monarch was not above the law. The Magna Carta launched an increasingly robust legal tradition that manifested itself in such texts such as the Habeas Corpus Acts and the 1688 Bill of Rights. In the seventeenth century, religious and political refugees brought this law with them to the United States where, as part of the War of Independence, the norms became entrenched and embedded in the Constitution.
Translated into French and exported by Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette, the language of human rights and the rule of law surfaced in revolutionary Paris. Over the next 150 years, the proclamations of the Americans and the French provided models for many others who associated statehood and independence with an entitlement of individuals to certain fundamental rights. By the early twentieth century, fundamental human rights were familiar components of many national constitutions. However, there was as yet no global benchmark nor, for that matter, a proper forum in which to proclaim one.
At the present day, it has been more than seven decades since the Declaration was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), during the 183rd session on December 10th, 1948. Human rights had already featured in the Charter, which dates from June 1945, but the founding document of the United Nations left some important matters to be resolved. Yet, the Declaration was never intended to be the last word on the topic. Rather, the formulation of human rights was viewed as a work in progress, and there was much unfinished business, including more treaties supposed to be negotiated in the following years.
The Declaration is not only a seminal document in the development of international human rights law, but also a living instrument which continues to be relevant to and applied in a broad range of contexts.
Today, the international human rights movement has many dimensions. Professionals and activists take on a variety of roles, as diplomats, NGO campaigners and ordinary citizens who participate in the development of the shared vision created by the Declaration.
As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Human rights begin in small places, close to home. An important contribution to this constantly evolving system is made by scholars and academics, who enrich our grasp of the content of international human rights. They examine the history of human rights, analysing the themes of the time and the unresolved debates. This exploration of the past helps in better understanding the present as well as in pointing the way to the future.”
Maria Sara Neri
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Luigi Bisogno 13/02/2023
Today, I want to share with you the most important piece of my puzzle.
On February 12th I was invited by The International Community NGO [ https://theinternationalcommunity.com/ ] - as ICMUN Security Council 2023 online conference Closing Ceremony Guest speaker - to talk about that part of my story which has led me to dedicate much of my energy to advocate for certain social issues today.
Well, since I daily receive beautiful words from people who would like to know more about me and my story thus far, I am going to share even here the same thoughts I had the chance to do yesterday, on occasion of the aforementioned event.
“The Warrior of the Light is a believer. Because he believes in miracles, miracles begin to happen. Because he is sure that his thoughts can change his life, his life begins to change. Because he is certain that he will find love, love appears”, states the world-famous book of Paulo Coelho, entitled “The Warrior of the Light”.
The famed writer talks about a world where each of us is able to live their dreams, embracing the uncertainty of life and rising to meet our own special and unique destiny.
I started with this literary reference because - besides the fact that I am made for 55% by philosophy and not by water - my dreams began exactly with that book in my hands, while I was walking in an anonymous street of the town of Kolkata, six years ago - in July 2017.
I am daily asked how I managed to reach particular achievements so far or how I cope with conserving the necessary willingness to stand up for the issues and causes I believe in, before a social reality which constantly overwhelms us with news describing a world which is drifting ... Well, the reality is that there is no secret; there is no day during which I do not wonder if I am raising the voice in the way I am supposed to in order to concretely contribute to the change I dream about; in which I do not live ups and downs; in which I do not feel insecure or I do not struggle with my bottled-up emotions, feelings, frustrations; in which I do not feel uncomfortable in particular situations but I smile pretending to feel at my ease.
Equally, whether this is true, it is also - deeply - true that there is no instant in which I forget that happiness is homemade; in which I do not repeat myself that - as my parents have always kept telling me since I was a little girl - there is always blessing in disguise and when we can’t see the beauty in something or someone, the reason is only that we are not looking properly into it because beauty is literally everywhere.
Coming back to my transformative travel, India has precisely been that place on earth where I realized that it is not a merit of mine, I have simply been blessed by life and, likewise, all these children who were living - and currently live - on Indian streets have nothing to do with their extremely painful life circumstances. The moment I realized this last thought, it was the second when Coelho’s words hit me so hard and where I got a new pair of glasses which I don't want to take off anymore.
I believe that the reason for which those smiles, 9.230,06 km away from here, completely changed my path is the same that Nadia Murat affirmed at UN General Assembly opening Session, on September 19th, 2019: “If beheadings, enslaved women, raped children and millions of people on the run don’t affect you, what could do it?”. According to me, literally NOTHING could hit worse than witnessing such human grief.
In the end, I guess I always feel anything but an immense Gratitude for all what Life has given to me because if I do not share my luck with others; if I do not advocate for the cause of another; if I do not do my part for changing things I complain about; If I am not the change I wish to see in the world - by quoting a famous Gandhi’s line -; I could not definitely think about telling my grandchildren - one day down the road - stories and experiences concerning a ‘full and deep life’.
Since we all get one shot to be who we are on this crazy ride called Life, I learned to stop waiting for a utopian idea of happiness because the best people - and opportunities - come unexpectedly. Maybe it’s my only secret.
So, to conclude and to answer to all those ones who spend a few of their time to write me sweet words - and who I want to thank wholeheartedly, one more time -, I want to say that there is no trick to reach rainbow without passing through the storm but the view always worth the sacrifice so I want to wish to all of us to never give up on ourselves and to continue to keep looking because there is always a way, it might take a while but all the most beautiful things in life need time, don’t they?
Maria Sara Neri
Luigi Bisogno 22/12/2022
"75 anni fa, il 22 dicembre del 1947, nasceva la Costituzione Italiana"
Il 22 dicembre di quest’anno, si celebra una ricorrenza importantissima del nostro Paese: Il 75esimo anno dall’approvazione ufficiale della Costituzione italiana.
Per la prima volta in Italia si votò con suffragio universale, ossia riconoscendo il diritto di voto a tutti i cittadini maggiorenni, uomini e donne, senza discriminazioni di genere. Tuttavia, rimasero però esclusi gli abitanti delle province giuliane di Gorizia, Fiume, Trieste e Pola, della provincia dalmata di Zara e della provincia di Bolzano. Tali zone, infatti, videro la loro esclusione dell’organizzazione territoriale dei seggi.
Per scrivere la Carta fondamentale della nostra Repubblica, venne nominata un’apposta Assemblea Costituente, organo legislativo eletto dai cittadini italiani e formato da 556 membri. I partiti più rappresentati all'Assemblea furono la Democrazia Cristiana (207 seggi), il Partito Socialista Italiano di Unità Proletaria 115 seggi) e il Partito Comunista Italiano (104 seggi).
Ma, volete sapere come nasce la Costituzione? Durante cena, attorno ad un tavolo.
Il tavolo era a casa di due sorelle: Pia e Laura Portoghesi. L'Italia è appena diventata repubblica, Roma è semidistrutta e gli affitti scarseggiano. La casa si divide di diversi inquilini. La prima ad entrare fu Laura Bianchini, partigiana eletta con la DC, poi un collega si lamenta di non trovare casa e lei gli propone di andare a vivere al secondo piano della stessa. In poche settimane la casa si riempie di cinque inquilini. Appare opportuno ricordare che, intorno a quella tavola, ci sono: Amintore Fanfani (il futuro premier), Giuseppe Dossetti (il vicesegretario della DC ), Giorgio La Pira (il futuro sindaco di Firenze) e altri parlamentari. Se di giorno partecipano ai lavori dell'Assemblea Costituente, di sera rincasano al civico 14. Anno dopo anno gli inquilini lasciano la casa. Chi diventa sindaco, chi premier e chi sacerdote. All'interno di quelle stanze sono stati realizzati gli articoli della Costituzione, in particolare due articoli: il terzo e il settimo. In quella casa, un gruppo di amici e colleghi, cambieranno per sempre le sorti dell'Italia.
Penso che questa storia debba sempre essere onorata e ricordata da noi cittadini italiani, con la forza e la speranza di poter migliorare il nostro Paese partendo da noi stessi, come hanno fatto i nostri predecessori intorno ad una semplice tavola. Tanti Auguri Costituzione Italiana!
Maria Pia D'Ascoli
Luigi Bisogno 06/07/2017
Dall’Europa al Mezzogiorno: il Futuro delle politiche giovanili
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