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Human Rights Speech

Human Rights are the most basic rights which are bestowed on each and every individual. These human rights take up their action rights from the birth of these individuals till their death do them apart with their own rights. Every other human on this planet, irrespective of their caste, religion, creed, gender, nationality, social status or color are entitled to these rights. While their rights are being protected by respective country laws.

To demonstrate the rights and the freedoms of these human beings, a historical document known as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), was set up in the year of 1948. This was indeed the first international agreement on the basic principles of human rights.

Long Speech on Human Rights

Greetings and salutations to all the students and the respected teachers and staff members present,

Today the speech I am about to deliver is about the basic human rights that we deserve. At times, our rights are defined as mere privileges, but I would agree with this notion that our rights are described as to be something more than basic privileges. In simpler words, the entitlement of the fundamental rights which are conferred on every individual is called human rights.

We are born with these rights that are present until our death. All the humans surviving on this planet are entitled to these rights. These rights prove to be effective for each and all, irrespective of the fact of who they are or where they come from or how they choose to live. The reason why these rights are formed is to protect anyone who wants to harm or to violate someone. These human rights give people the freedom to live and to express themselves as to how they want to. Everyone deserves to be themselves and this is supported by human rights.

After the enormous loss of life, caused during World War II, the United Nations signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in the year 1948 on the 10th of December, this was initiated to propose a common understanding for everyone’s rights. Even in the present times, the world is always being sculpted based on freedom, justice and peace which are the rights themselves.

Hence, the 10th of December is celebrated as International Human Rights Day which marks the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Human Rights Include – 

Right to life and liberty

Protection from torture

Fair trials 

Freedom of expression, religion, peaceful assembly

Human Rights are inclusive of many other rights, as we deepen our thoughts the circle will get bigger. Economic, social and cultural rights cover rights which are namely the right to education, housing and health facilities. All these available resources are required to be utilized by the government to achieve them. Treaties are formed to protect the rights of women, children, refugees, the LGBTQ+ society, minorities, the disabled and domestic workers.

All the various principles, declarations and guidelines have been adopted by the United Nations with these treaties to enhance the meaning of these few rights. The UN Human Rights Committee and the UN special rapporteurs are the international institutions that are responsible for interpreting these human rights treaties and monitoring the compliance.

This is the duty of the government who themselves implement international human rights. This is the duty of the government to protect and promote human rights by barring these violations by the officials or stand, also punishing offenders. Also, while creating ways for the citizen to seek help to breach their rights. This is itself a human right violation if a country fails to initiate any step against the private individuals who abuse domestic violence.

Human Rights are Classified as 

Natural rights

Legal rights

Social welfare rights

Ethnic rights

Positive and negative rights

Individual rights

Claim and liberty rights

2 Minutes Speech on Human Rights

Good morning to everyone,

The term human rights are defined as the right to live, liberty, equality and deliver respect for any human being. Our Constitution has a section that follows the Rights and the Fundamental Rights, that provides the people of the nation with their own fundamental rights.

The fundamental rights are the basic human rights of every single citizen of the country, irrespective of their caste, background, their religion, colour, status or their sex. Between the years 1957 to 1949, the sections were very vital elements that were added to the Constitution.

In India, there are six fundamental or human rights that are Right to Freedom, Right to equality, Right against exploitation, Right to Freedom of Religion, Culture and educational rights and Right to seek Constitutional Remedies.

Internationally on the violation of the international human rights or violation of the humanitarian laws or crimes against us, the humanity, the government of a country prosecute the individual, or this can be done by another country as well under the “universal jurisdiction”.

10 Lines on Human Rights Speech in English

There are almost 40 million children who suffer from abuse who should be covered with human rights.

Worldwide, more than 3,00,000 children under the age of 18 are also being exploited, this calls for human rights.

There are around 246 million child laborers worldwide, which is a violation of human rights.

Throughout our history, women have been restricted from exercising their own rights.

Access to the internet was declared one of the basic human rights by the UN in 2011.

Twenty-one million people all over the world were the victims of forced labor.

Leisure and holiday guaranteed with pay is a right for everyone.

In four countries death penalties have been abolished by the year 2015.

In the country of South Africa, a celebration of Human Rights Day takes place on 21st March to pay respect to the Sharpeville massacre.

Domestic violence in many countries is still not considered a crime.

Human Rights are such rights that we deserve to get right from our birth. Many people are not quite aware of their basic rights, in that situation awareness of the same is required so that the people can live an unbiased life.

FAQs on Speech on Human Rights

1. Explain the following rights in brief 

(i)  Right to practice our religion

(ii) Right to speak our language

(i) Right to practice our religion means every human being has the independence to live their religion without any restrictions. This is considered as a fundamental right. The article 25-28 of the Indian constitution guarantees this right. Acc. to this right, all religions are treated equally and the citizens of the country are given equal rights to practice their religion. One of the popular Act related to practicing a particular religion is the 'freedom of religion Act' passed in 1968 in the state of madhya pradesh. This act was passed under the governance of congress. This act also promotem converting yourself from one religion to another. This act had terms and conditions which made sure about the security of the individual. One of the important terms related to this act says that 'no individual must be forced to convert from one religion to another' and must have the freedom to live his culture in our society. 

(ii) The right to speak our language is one of the most important rights in the constitution. Linguistic rights are considered as human and civil rights. This right provides the freedom to choose the language the citizen wants to speak. When linguistic rights are combined with human rights, it makes up linguistic human rights. These linguistic human rights include the right to learn different languages including foreign languages. All of the linguistic human rights are language rights but the vice versa is not true. There are some articles that provide linguistic rights are 

Article 10 

2. What are the advantages of giving human rights to the citizens?

  Providing citizens with Human rights helps in the following ways :

Human rights oppose discrimination and helps in spreading equality among the citizen of the country.

Human rights contribute to making the constitution fair.

It helps in proper classification of the group of people on the basis of different languages, places, sex etc. But, human rights provide independence to practice language, religion etc. 

It also helps to enhance the diversity of the country.

The main aim of providing human rights is to empower the citizens to do their desired work. 

It helps in the overall development of the country. Human rights encourage modernisation and growth.

3. Explain the 'right to education' and its merits.

The right to education is a human right that empowers the citizen to gain education without being stopped by anyone. The right to education act was passed by the parliament on 4 August 2009. It encourages educating children on a mass level. It provides the right to free and compulsory education for all. This right is responsible for increasing the literacy rate of India. Also, it makes the citizens aware about their rights. As it promotes literacy, it also contributes in modernisation and growth of the country.

4. Which part of the system cares about human rights?

In India, human rights were established by NHRC National Human Rights Commission). Since then, the government has the responsibility to ensure the proper implementation of various human rights. Government divided this function into different branches of the constitution. The judiciary holds the constitutional responsibility to protect human rights in India. It protects and studies the situations related to human rights. Along with this, it decides the distribution of human rights. For example - every citizen gets equal human rights. But, distribution of human rights on the basis of needs is done by the judiciary. The parliament has the power to approve or pass the bills related to human rights. Further, the Supreme Court and High Courts hold the power to take action and look after the proper distribution and implementation of human rights. Therefore, the department of human rights is managed by the government and not any private organization.

5. What are the drawbacks of human rights?

 Following are points the drawbacks related of human rights :

In underdeveloped countries or remote areas, many people are still unaware about their rights. This proves that distribution of human rights is not 100% possible in the present scenario.

Human rights acts and organizations need a huge amount of monetary funds.

Corruption leads to lack of human rights. This also disturbes the proper working of the system.

Human rights are still not able to uplift the position of females in society. As a result of this, most of the higher posts are occupied by men and this gives rise to inequality. 

Sometimes, human rights do not prove to be helpful for all the citizens at the same time. 

Human rights acts take a long time to get passed and approved by the parliament. This makes implementation of new human rights difficult.

50 Essential Civil Rights Speeches

Activists, athletes, actors, and preachers with sometimes-fiery presentation skills are just a few of the people who’ve communicated the message of civil rights to the masses.

When many people think of civil rights, the path to equality for the Black community comes to mind, but oration is equally as instrumental to civil rights movements too, especially those striving to secure equality for women, those who are older, and members of the LBGTQ+ community.

Our partners at Stacker compiled a list of 50 essential civil rights speeches using resources including BlackPast , TED , American RadioWorks , the Obama Foundation , and various other media and educational sources.

Almost everyone knows the names and the works of Martin Luther King Jr ., Malcolm X, and Barack Obama. But did you know one presenter, in particular, centered intersectionality in her speech to include a telling test that illustrated how visibility for some can be almost nonexistent? Even another key player in the civil rights movement of the ’60s was sometimes silenced because he was Black and gay.

Being incendiary was natural for some of these speakers, while others toed the line between creating change and avoiding offending more conservative elements of the movement.

Some of these speeches date back five decades into the past, but several others were delivered following the groundbreaking events of 2020 — from Black Lives Matter rallies to the 2020 March on Washington — which featured powerful orators, ranging from activists to professionals with doctorates to even a grade-school student.

Keep reading to discover 50 essential civil rights speeches.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘The Montgomery Bus Boycott’

Four days after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in 1955, Martin Luther King Jr. addressed thousands of people who were part of the subsequent boycott of the bus system in Montgomery, Alabama. He talked about the longtime intimidation of Black bus riders, and the importance of continuing the protest.

Related: The best quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. that go beyond the clichés

Related: The best quotes from Rosa Parks

Malcolm X’s ‘White Liberals and Conservatives’

Malcolm X talked in 1963 about the power of the vote to change the race problem, noting that only 3 million “Negro integration-seekers” in the “Black bourgeoisie” vote, but 8 million don’t. He proposed that both white liberals and conservatives use civil rights “in this crooked game of power politics” to garner power.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’

The civil rights leader penned this speech in 1963 while jailed for continuing to protest the mistreatment of Black people. Martin Luther King Jr. talked about the interconnectedness of humanity, reminding us that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere—we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”

Related: The best quotes from Martin Luther King Jr's daughter, Bernice King, about hope, justice, and love

John F. Kennedy’s 1963 address on civil rights

After National Guard assistance was required in 1963 to allow two Black students onto the University of Alabama campus, President John F. Kennedy reminded the nation that Americans of any color should be able to attend public schools, receive equal service, register to vote, and “enjoy the privileges of being American,” framing those rights as a moral issue. The stats he quoted to prove that this was not the case have changed over time, but many show that equality has not yet been achieved.

Related: The best John F. Kennedy quotes to leave you feeling inspired

John Lewis’ 1963 March on Washington speech

Before representing Georgia in Congress, John Lewis was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), organizing with other civil rights leaders including Martin Luther King Jr. Lewis drafted his “March on Washington” speech in response to the Civil Rights Bill of 1963 , stating that “we cannot be patient” for jobs and freedom and that “we are tired. We are tired of being beaten by policemen. We are tired of seeing our people locked up in jail over and over again.”

Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’

The civil rights icon called for an end to racism in front of more than 250,000 people in 1963. Martin Luther King Jr. talked about the lack of progress at that time, but almost 60 years later, the police brutality decried in this speech still exists, visible in the deaths of unarmed Black citizens and the protests that followed —perhaps most demonstratively were the Black Lives Matter protests that ensued following the killings of George Floyd , Ahmaud Arbery , and Breonna Taylor in 2020.

Malcolm X’s ‘By Any Means Necessary’

The Nation of Islam activist spoke in 1964 about the creation of a Black nationalist party based on the successes of African brothers in gaining “more independence, more recognition, more respect as human beings.” His new Organization of African Unity would hasten the “complete independence of people of African descent … by any means necessary,” starting in Harlem.

Malcolm X’s ‘The Ballot or the Bullet’

Malcolm X continued his incendiary tone in 1964 with his “The Ballot or the Bullet” speech, in which he advocated for voting but doesn’t rule out more violent reactions. He noted that Black people are “fed up,” “disenchanted,” and “disillusioned,” creating an explosive environment.

Fannie Lou Hamer’s 1964 Democratic National Convention testimony

Former sharecropper and civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer talked in 1964 about traveling 26 miles to register to vote to become “first-class citizens,” being met by police, and ultimately being evicted for her efforts. In her speech, she asked, “Is this America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, where we have to sleep with our telephones off of the hook?”

Lorraine Hansberry’s ‘The Black Revolution and the White Backlash’

Not far off the mark from the commentary of Malcolm X, Lorraine Hansberry noted the “problem about white liberals,” who she asserted don’t understand the impatience of Black people who’ve been “kicked in the face so often.” Her 1964 speech also mentioned that the solution is to get them to “stop being a liberal and become an American radical.”

Joseph Jackson’s ‘The Vote is the Only Effective Weapon in the Civil Rights Struggle’

Baptist preacher Joseph Jackson talked about the interconnectedness of civil rights and voting rights in this 1964 speech. The conservative leader implored the Black community to “fight their battles in the polling booth,” but opposed the direct action taken by many other civil rights leaders of the time.

Bayard Rustin’s ‘Negro Revolution in 1965’

Bayard Rustin is relatively unknown in civil rights history, even though he was a major contributor to the movement, and acted as deputy director of the March on Washington.

In this 1964 speech , he said that “the Negro is forcing the American people into a revolutionary situation” focused on better education, housing, and job opportunities. Some wanted to silence Rustin because he was Black and gay.

James Baldwin’s ‘Pin Drop’

Writer and activist James Baldwin talked in 1965 about how it can seem to Black people that they “belong where white people have put you.”

He addressed how gentrification existed 55 years ago: “When someone says ‘Urban Renewal,’ that Negroes are simply going to be thrown out into the streets.”

He also warned how those who are excluded will rise up: “The people who are denied participation in [the American Dream], by their very presence, will wreck it.”

Related: The Best Quotes From James Baldwin

Lyndon B. Johnson’s ‘We Shall Overcome’

In 1965, following the atrocities of Bloody Sunday, President Lyndon B. Johnson called for voting and civil rights , stating, “Their cause must be our cause too.” Johnson had helped pass the Civil Rights Act the previous year, but he’d previously called a press conference to detract from testimony by Fannie Lou Hamer about voter suppression.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘Our God is Marching On’

After a four-day march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to the crowd, asking the question “How long will prejudice blind the visions of men?”—with the often-repeated answer, “Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” King hoped that racist brutality was coming to an end, but progress has continued to be spiked with beatings and deaths and new records in the number of hate groups .

Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘The Three Evils of Society’

Martin Luther King Jr. talked about the “triple evils” of war, poverty, and racism at the 1967 National Conference on New Politics in Chicago.

His thoughts on war talk about “guided missiles and misguided men,” while his insights on poverty and racism note that “capitalism was built on the exploitation and suffering of black slaves and continues to thrive on the exploitation of the poor both black and white, both here and abroad.”

Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘The Other America’

Equality for all was another of Martin Luther King Jr.’s rallying cries. In this 1967 speech, he recognized that some people live on a “lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.”

Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I’ve Been to the Mountaintop’

No collection of civil rights speeches would be complete without the hopeful presentation by Martin Luther King Jr. from the night before his assassination in 1968. Despite the roadblocks along the way, including the beatings and deaths of numerous people in the movement, the civil rights leader was still convinced that “we, as a people, will get to the promised land.”

Muhammad Ali’s ‘Wake Up and Apologize’

In a 1972 conversation with an Irish journalist, Muhammad Ali launched into a poetic assessment of what it’s like to face police brutality as a Black man. The GOAT noted, “Better far from all I see, to die fighting to be free, what more fitting end could be … let me die by being Black, better far that I should go, standing here against the foe is the sweeter death to know.”

Angela Davis’ ‘The Gates to Freedom’

Socialist and activist Angela Davis faced sexism while championing criminal justice reform and civil rights for the Black community, even being imprisoned as a result. After her trial, she gave this speech in 1972, suggesting that society “redirect that wealth … and channel it into food for the hungry , and to clothes for the needy; into schools, hospitals, housing, and all the material things that are necessary.” The ideas parallel current calls for reform.

Related: The Best Quotes About Hope, Optimism, and Cynicism

Related: The Best Quotes About Feeding the Hungry

Shirley Chisholm’s ‘The Black Woman in Contemporary America’

The first Black woman elected to Congress urged all Americans in 1974 to “Forget traditions! Forget conventionalisms! Forget what the world will say whether you're in your place or out of your place.” This mindset served her well when she put her name in the hat for president of the United States.

Jesse Jackson’s ‘Keep Hope Alive’

Two-time presidential candidate, activist, and organizer Jesse Jackson spoke to the Democratic National Convention in 1988 about finding common ground, decades before the divisiveness seen in recent years. “Progress will not come through boundless liberalism, nor static conservatism, but at the critical mass of mutual survival,” Jackson said.

John Lewis’ ‘You Cannot Tell People They Cannot Fall in Love’

The Georgia representative and civil rights organizer stepped up at the Defense of Marriage Act congressional debates in 1996 to tell the world, “You cannot tell people they cannot fall in love.” Lewis drew parallels between interracial and gay marriages in his reaction to the wording in the Act that defined marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.

Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s ‘America Beyond the Color Line’

Harvard professor and intellectual Henry Louis Gates Jr. spoke to the Commonwealth Club of California in 2004 about traveling all over the country to talk to Black people about their experiences, especially with racial equality. His interviews took place everywhere, from “Ebony Towers” and “Black Hollywood” to the inner city and all-Black communities in the South.

Barack Obama’s 2004 Democratic National Convention speech

Before he was even elected as a senator, Barack Obama spoke at the Democratic National Convention in 2004 from the perspective of the child of parents who deemed him blessed to be in America. His speech considered the progress the country has made, but also how far we have to go.

Barack Obama’s ‘A More Perfect Union’

When former President Barack Obama was still a candidate in early 2008, he addressed America and its legacy of racism , talking about the original sin of slavery, and how the answer was already embedded in the Constitution “that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.” Continuing, he talked about how protests “on the streets and in the courts” have moved us closer to a “more just, more equal, more free, more caring, and more prosperous America.”

Barack Obama’s 2009 Inaugural Address

When President Barack Obama was inaugurated in 2009, his speech recognized the diversity of the American people with respect to race, religion, and more. His speech held out hope “that the old hatreds shall someday pass” and “that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve.” The year 2020 has shown us we haven’t reached that goal yet, but Obama’s speech promised that one day we will.

Bryan Stevenson’s ‘We Need to Talk About an Injustice’

Bryan Stevenson is a human rights lawyer who founded the Equal Justice Institute and its Legacy Museum , which educates people about the direct path from slavery to mass incarceration. In this 2012 TED Talk, he talks about injustices and the impact of the death penalty in a world where 10% of those on death row are ultimately exonerated.

Related: The Best Quotes By Activists About Activism

Barack Obama’s 2013 Inaugural Address

President Barack Obama took the opportunity of his second inauguration in 2013 to draw parallels between Black and women’s rights, fought for in Selma and Seneca Falls, to the Stonewall riots that were pivotal for the gay rights movement. His commitment to that cause was showcased in his comment that “our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law,” setting the stage for arguments to declare the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.

Related: The Best Quotes from Barack Obama

Vernā Myers’ ‘How to Overcome Our Biases? Walk Boldly Toward Them’

In her 2014 TEDx Talk , diversity consultant Vernā Myers advised , “Stop trying to be good people, we need real people. Don't even think about colorblindness.”

Yoruba Richen’s ‘What the Gay Rights Movement Learned From the Civil Rights Movement’

Filmmaker Yoruba Richen, who is a part of both the Black and LGBTQ+ community, spoke in this 2014 TED Talk about her frustration concerning the supposed conflict between the two worlds, but realized that there was really more intersection. She explored how the LGBTQ+ community successfully used strategies and tactics used by the Black community in their own civil rights efforts.

John Lewis’ speech on 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday

Fifty years after the Selma march that became known as Bloody Sunday because of the police abuse that almost killed him and other marchers, John Lewis returned to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 2015. Lewis reminded everyone , “We must use this moment to recommit ourselves to do all we can to finish the work. There is still work left to be done. Get out there and push and pull until we redeem the soul of America.”

Related: Lessons We Can Learn From the World's Leading Activists

Jimmy Carter’s ‘Why I Believe the Mistreatment of Women is the Number One Human Rights Abuse’

Former President of the United States Jimmy Carter posited in this 2015 TEDWomen Talk that abuse of women and girls is the major human rights abuse of our time, resulting from various reasons, including misinterpretation of scriptures and “men [who] don't give a damn.” He also outlined in his talk a number of abuses that are commonplace across the world. His Carter Center is committed to protecting and advancing human rights .

You can read Jimmy Carter's most inspiring quotes about human rights and hope in our curated guide.

Julian Bond’s ‘Declaration: We Must Practice Dissent’

From the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to the Southern Poverty Law Center and NAACP, Julian Bond has been a part of some of the major organizations of the civil rights movement. In his final speech in 2015, he continued to advocate for protest and dissent.

Barack Obama’s ‘Love is Love’

More than two years after advocating for marriage equality in his second inauguration, Barack Obama celebrated the downfall of part of the Defense of Marriage Act in 2015 with a speech in which he declared, “ Love is love.”

Jesse Williams’ 2016 BET Awards speech

Actor Jesse Williams’ speech at the 2016 BET Awards remembered the many Black people who were killed by police at the time, expressing, “We know that police somehow managed to deescalate, disarm, and not kill white people every day, so what’s gonna happen is we are gonna have equal rights and justice in our own country, or we will restructure their function and ours.” Mirroring the demands of other civil rights activists for action now, not later, he noted that “the hereafter is a hustle, we want it now.

Kimberlé Crenshaw’s ‘The Urgency of Intersectionality’

Kimberlé Crenshaw started her 2016 TEDWomen talk commemorating the names of people killed at the time by the hands of police, conducting an experiment that demonstrates that the women in that group are relatively unknown. Discrimination against Black women “feels like injustice squared,” asserted Crenshaw, who later invited the audience to use #SayHerName to bear witness to these women.

Related: Get to know these famous Black activists

Ashton Applewhite’s ‘Let’s End Ageism’

One type of discrimination that’s less considered in the civil rights realm is ageism. In this 2017 TED Talk , Ashton Applewhite called it the “last socially-acceptable prejudice.” Many fear getting old, even though the stats show that reality doesn’t match our fears. And prejudice of any type divides us. She implored us to get off the “hamster wheel of age denial.”

Daryl Davis’ ‘Why I, As a Black Man, Attend KKK Rallies’

Black musician Daryl Davis talked about the unusual evolution of a friendship between himself and a Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon in his 2017 TEDx Talk. His takeaway from the experience: “Hate stems from fear of the unknown. Take the time to sit down and talk with your adversaries. You’ll learn something; they'll learn something.” Amid his friendship, Davis revealed the Grand Dragon actually left the Klan.

Oprah Winfrey’s 2018 Golden Globes speech

The #MeToo movement played a prominent part in Oprah Winfrey’s acceptance speech as she received the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 2018 Golden Globes. Winfrey gave gratitude to the women who survived abuse and assault because they had “children to feed and bills to pay and dreams to pursue.”

Melinda Epler’s ‘3 Ways to Be a Better Ally in the Workplace’

Civil rights efforts need the collaboration and contribution of allies. Oftentimes, it’s not an employee who is failing, but the culture, due to microaggressions and other barriers. In this 2018 TED Salon talk, Melinda Epler shared specific ways to support those facing discrimination.

Samy Nour Younes’ ‘A Short History of Trans People’s Long Fight for Equality’

This 2018 TED Talk about the centuries-old history of trans people noted that their existence is not new, and explored both the struggles and triumphs of the community. The topic was and still is a matter of urgency—more than 50 transgender and gender-nonconforming people , mostly Black and Latinx women, were killed in 2021 alone.

John Lewis’ ‘Good Trouble’

Returning in 2020 to the Edmund Pettus Bridge , where police abused him 55 years earlier on Bloody Sunday, Georgia Rep. John Lewis implored to the crowd: “Go out there, speak up, speak out. Get in the way. Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.” Lewis himself had gotten into plenty of “good trouble” over the years, being arrested more than 40 times as the result of civil disobedience during his lifelong fight for civil rights.

Andre Williams’ 2020 police brutality speech

At a 2020 Black Lives Matter march, NFL star Andre Williams reminded others , “Guess what, in the morning we still wake up Black, and we cannot continue to allow the people to oppress the African American community.” He begged them to “be the voice for Black people.”

Barack Obama’s ‘Reimagining Policing in the Wake of Continued Police Violence’

In his speech in response to the wave of police violence in 2020, former President Barack Obama stated : “I’ve been hearing a little bit of chatter on the internet about voting versus protest, politics, and participation versus civil disobedience and direct action. This is not either/or, this is both/and, to bring about real change. Because they kept marching, America changed. We’ll get back up, that’s how movement happens, that's how history bends.”

John Boyega’s 2020 Black Lives Matter protest speech

British actor John Boyega spoke out at a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in London, prefacing, “I don’t know if I’m going to have a career after this.” He talked about his own experience and those of others, adding, “Every Black person understands and realizes the first time you were reminded that you were Black. I need you to understand how painful it is to be reminded every day that your race means nothing.”

Playon Patrick’s ‘2020 Quarantine Killings’

Playon Patrick was part of the Obama Foundation Conversation with former President Barack Obama about reimagining policing in 2020. His spoken word performance talked about the experience of Black boys in this country. “We are early graves before we are anything else,” Patrick said. “Always conflicted between being Black and being people. I wish God could give us a choice.”

Yolanda Renee King’s 2020 March on Washington speech

The civil rights leader’s granddaughter, Yolanda Renee King, channeled MLK in this powerful speech at the 2020 March on Washington . She noted that “great challenges produce great leaders: We have mastered the selfie and TikToks, now we must master ourselves.” She proclaimed that her generation was going to be “the one that moves from me to we—we are going to be the generation that dismantles systemic racism once and for all.”

Ayanna Pressley’s 2020 March on Washington speech

Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley “let it play” at the 2020 March on Washington, reminding us, “Another world is possible. Yes, it is possible to legislate justice and accountability, people over profits, joy over trauma, freedom over fear. Yes, it is possible to write budgets that actually value Black lives. If it feels unfamiliar, that’s because it has never been done in America.”

Martin Luther King III’s 2020 March on Washington speech

The son of the civil rights icon spoke out at the 2020 March on Washington, in which he talked about America’s “rocky but righteous journey towards justice” and advocated for “demilitarizing the police, dismantling mass incarceration, and declaring that Black Lives Matter.” Voting was another focus of this speech, as King urged listeners to start “marching to the ballot boxes, and the mailboxes” to defend our freedoms.

This article was first published by Stacker . ( CC BY-NC 4.0 )

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6 Human Rights Speeches That Changed The World

Words are powerful things. Put in the hands of skilful orators they have the ability to inspire, heal and rally vast swathes of people. And what could be more worth rallying for than the inherent dignity and equal rights of ‘ all members of the human family’ (AKA, our human rights) ? 

These six speakers advocate for equality, freedom, and dignity. But above all, what connects them is their belief in the power of free speech, and that their own voice can make a difference – and they did.

• Hundreds of inspirational human rights quotes

1. Eleanor Roosevelt, The Struggle for Human Rights, 1948

Let’s start off with the first lady of human rights – Eleanor Roosevelt with her famous 1948 speech ‘The Struggle for Human Rights’

We must not be confused about what freedom is. Basic human rights are simple and easily understood: freedom of speech and a free press; freedom of religion and worship; freedom of assembly and the right of petition; the right of men to be secure in their homes and free from unreasonable search and seizure and from arbitrary arrest and punishment.

Check her out in action here:

2. Martin Luther King, I Have A Dream, 1963

Moving on to one of the most recognisable speeches of the 20 th Century – Martin Luther King Jnr in 1963 ‘I Have A Dream.’

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

His delivery brings his words off the page:

3. Emmeline Pankhurst, Freedom or Death, 1913

Great speeches have a habit of connecting to times of strife. The struggle for women’s suffrage is littered with powerful speeches denouncing inequality – here is one of the most famous from Emmeline Pankhurst in 1913, ‘Freedom or Death,’

Human life for us is sacred, but we say if any life is to be sacrificed it shall be ours; we won’t do it ourselves, but we will put the enemy in the position where they will have to choose between giving us freedom or giving us death.

If you want to listen to it, check out this reading of it:

4. Harold Macmillan, The Wind of Change, 1960

Sometimes the location of a speech underlines its impact. Here Harold Macmillan is addressing the South African Parliament about racial discrimination and slavery in his 1960 ‘The Wind of Change’ speech.

The wind of change is blowing through this continent, and whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact. We must all accept it as a fact, and our national policies must take account of it.

Check out Harold in full flow here:

5. Nelson Mandela, I Am Prepared To Die, 1964

Four years later in 1964 in the same country, Nelson Mandela was on trial on charges of sabotage and made the following speech from the dock:

During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

Here is Mr Mandela using the court room as his megaphone:

6. Elie Wiesel, The Perils of Indifference

We’ll end with a personal favourite. Here is Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor addressing President Clinton in 1999 talking about ‘The Perils of Indifference.’

Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response. Indifference is not a beginning; it is an end. And, therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor — never his victim, whose pain is magnified when he or she feels forgotten. The political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children, the homeless refugees — not to respond to their plight, not to relieve their solitude by offering them a spark of hope is to exile them from human memory. And in denying their humanity, we betray our own.

Watch the full 20 minutes here:

These are just a small selection of powerful speeches, which speeches would you put in your top ten?

• Check out our guest post on ‘Free Speech and Why it Matters’ 
• For more on freedom of expression and why it matters, read our Explainer here. 
• To read about why we should continue to fight for our freedoms, read RightsInfo’s director’s opinion post, ‘ Evil Progresses Cunningly ‘. 

Harold Macmillan image ©  Chetham’s Library , and Wikimedia used under Creative Commons  Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic Licence.

About the author.

Anna Dannreuther is a barrister at Field Court Chambers practising in public, employment, and commercial law. She is a trans ally and has worked extensively on human rights issues, including at the European Court of Human Rights and with NGO partners.

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UN Secretary-General Remarks to the opening of the high-level segment of the 46th regular session of the Human Rights Council

Date: Monday, 22 February 2021

Originally published on UN.org/sg

Distinguished President of the Human Rights Council, Madam High Commissioner, Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen,

Human rights are our bloodline; they connect us to one another, as equals.

Human rights are our lifeline; they are the pathway to resolving tensions and forging lasting peace.

Human rights are on the frontline; they are the building blocks of a world of dignity and opportunity for all – and they are under fire every day.

The Human Rights Council is the global locus for tackling the full range of human rights challenges.

I thank you for that vital work — and welcome the engagement of all Member States and civil society.

One year ago, I came before you to launch a Call to Action for Human Rights. We named this values-based and dignity-driven appeal “The Highest Aspiration” — drawing from the words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights itself.

That phrase is a reminder that securing human rights is both essential and a constant work in progress. Gains can be easily undone. Perils can strike in an instant.

Soon after our gathering last year, COVID-19 hit the world without mercy. The pandemic revealed the interconnectedness of our human family — and of the full spectrum of human rights — civil, cultural, economic, political and social.

COVID-19 has deepened pre-existing divides, vulnerabilities and inequalities, as well as opened up new fractures, including fault-lines in human rights. We are seeing a vicious circle of violations.

The lives of hundreds of millions of families have been turned upside down — with lost jobs, mounting debt and steep falls in income.

The disease has taken a disproportionate toll on women, minorities, persons with disabilities, older persons, refugees, migrants and indigenous peoples.

Progress on gender equality has been set back years. Extreme poverty is rising for the first time in decades. Young people are struggling, out of school and often with limited access to technology.

The latest moral outrage is the failure to ensure equity in vaccination efforts. Just ten countries have administered 75 per cent of all COVID-19 vaccines. Meanwhile, more than 130 countries have not received a single dose.

Vaccine equity affirms human rights. Vaccine nationalism denies it. Vaccines must be a global public good, accessible and affordable for all.

The virus is also infecting political and civil rights and further shrinking civic space.

Using the pandemic as a pretext, authorities in some countries have deployed heavy-handed security responses and emergency measures to crush dissent, criminalize basic freedoms, silence independent reporting and curtail the activities of non-governmental organisations.

Human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers, political activists — and even medical professionals — are being detained, prosecuted and subjected to intimidation and surveillance for criticizing government pandemic responses — or the lack thereof.

Pandemic-related restrictions are being used to subvert electoral processes, weaken opposition voices and suppress criticism. At times, access to life-saving COVID-19 information has been concealed—while deadly misinformation has been amplified — including by those in power.

The COVID-19 infodemic has raised alarms more generally about the growing reach of digital platforms and the use and abuse of data.

A vast library of information is being assembled about each of us. Yet we don’t really have the keys to that library. We don’t know how this information has been collected, by whom or for what purposes.

That data is being used commercially — for advertising, for marketing and for beefing up corporate bottom lines.

Behavior patterns are being commodified and sold like futures contracts. This has created new business models and entirely new industries that have contributed to an ever-greater concentration of wealth and inequality.

Our data is also being used to shape and manipulate our perceptions, without our ever realizing it.

Governments can exploit that data to control the behavior of their own citizens, violating human rights of individuals or groups.

All of this is not science fiction or a forecast of a 22nd-century dystopia.

It is here and now. And it requires a serious discussion.

We have developed a Roadmap for Digital Cooperation to find a way forward. I urge all Member States to place human rights at the centre of regulatory frameworks and legislation on the development and use of digital technologies.

We need a safe, equitable and open digital future that does not infringe on privacy or dignity.

Excellencies,

Our Human Rights Call to Action is a comprehensive framework to advance our most important work — from sustainable development to climate action, from protecting fundamental freedoms to gender equality, the preservation of civic space and ensuring that digital technology is a force for good.

Today, I come before you with a sense of urgency to do even more to bring our Human Rights Call to Action to life.

I want to focus on two areas where the imperative for action is great — and the scale of the challenge looms large. First, the blight of racism, discrimination and xenophobia. And, second, the most pervasive human rights violation of all: gender inequality. These evils are fed by two of the deepest wells of injustice in our world: the legacy of centuries of colonialism; and the persistence, across the millennia, of patriarchy.

Stoking the fires of racism, anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim bigotry, violence against some minority Christian communities, homophobia, xenophobia and misogyny is nothing new.

It has just become more overt, easier to achieve, and globalized. When we allow the denigration of any one of us, we set the precedent for the demonization of all of us.

The rot of racism eats away at institutions, social structures and everyday life — sometimes invisibly and insidiously. I welcome the new awakening in the global fight for racial justice, a surge of resistance against being reduced or ignored — often led by women and young people.

As they have highlighted, we have a long way to go. I commend the Human Rights Council decision to report on systemic racism, accountability and redress, and responses to peaceful anti-racism protests — and look forward to concrete action.

We must also step up the fight against resurgent neo-Nazism, white supremacy and racially and ethnically motivated terrorism.

The danger of these hate-driven movements is growing by the day.

Let us call them what they are:

White supremacy and neo-Nazi movements are more than domestic terror threats.

They are becoming a transnational threat.

These and other groups have exploited the pandemic to boost their ranks through social polarization and political and cultural manipulation.

Today, these extremist movements represent the number one internal security threat in several countries.

Individuals and groups are engaged in a feeding frenzy of hate —fundraising, recruiting and communicating online both at home and overseas, travelling internationally to train together and network their hateful ideologies.

Far too often, these hate groups are cheered on by people in positions of responsibility in ways that were considered unimaginable not long ago.

We need global coordinated action to defeat this grave and growing danger.

We must also place a special focus on safeguarding the rights of minority communities, many of whom are under threat around the world.

Minority communities are part of the richness of our cultural and social fabric. Just as biodiversity is fundamental to human well-being, the diversity of communities is fundamental to humanity. Yet we see not only forms of discrimination but also policies of assimilation that seek to wipe out the cultural and religious identity of minority communities.

When a minority community’s culture, language or faith are under attack, all of us are diminished.

When authorities cast suspicion on entire groups under the guise of security, all of us are threatened.

These measures are doomed to backfire.

We must continue to push for policies that fully respect human rights and religious, cultural and unique human identity.

And we must simultaneously nurture the conditions for each community to feel that they are fully part of society as a whole.

No human rights scourge is more prevalent than gender inequality.

The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated entrenched discrimination against women and girls.

The crisis has a woman’s face.

Most essential frontline workers are women — many from racially and ethnically marginalized groups and at the bottom of the economic ladder.

Most of the increased burden of care in the home is taken on by women.

Violence against women and girls in all forms has skyrocketed, from online abuse to domestic violence, trafficking, sexual exploitation and child marriage.

Women have suffered higher job losses and been pushed into poverty in greater numbers.

This is on top of already fragile socio-economic conditions due to lower incomes, the wage gap, and a lifetime of less access to opportunities, resources and protections.

None of this happened by accident.

It is the result of generations of exclusion.

It comes down to a question of power.

A male-dominated world and a male-dominated culture will yield male-dominated results.

At the same time, the COVID-19 response has highlighted the power and effectiveness of women’s leadership.

The lives of women are perhaps one of the most accurate barometers of the health of society as a whole.

How a society treats half its own population is a significant indicator of how it will treat others. Our rights are inextricably bound.

This is why, as a proud feminist, I have delivered on my commitment to make gender parity a reality in the leadership of the UN.

And I have made gender equality a leading priority for the Organization as a whole.

This is not just the responsibility of any individual or agency. If we are to be an inclusive, credible, and effective international Organization, it is the work of everyone. I am committed to doing much more. Our Call to Action on Human Rights has a specific emphasis on repealing all discriminatory laws globally.

And on achieving women’s equal right to participation and representation, in every sector and at every level through ambitious actions, including temporary special measures such as quotas.

Realizing this right will benefit all of us.

The opportunity of man-made problems – and I choose these words deliberately – is that they have human-led solutions.

But these solutions can only be found through shared leadership and decisionmaking and the right to equal participation.

Every corner of the globe is suffering from the sickness of violations of human rights.

Of course there are a number of extremely concerning country situations — some of them very prolonged – and this is where the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms are so vital in raising awareness, protecting people, maintaining dialogue and finding solutions.

I thank the Human Rights Council for your recent and timely focus on a situation where the challenges that I outlined today are dramatically evident — and that is the case of Myanmar.

We see the undermining of democracy, the use of brutal force, arbitrary arrests, repression in all its manifestations. Restrictions of civic space. Attacks on civil society. Serious violations against minorities with no accountability, including what has rightly been called ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya population. The list goes on.

It is all coming together in a perfect storm of upheaval. Today, I call on the Myanmar military to stop the repression immediately.

Release the prisoners. End the violence. Respect human rights, and the will of the people expressed in recent elections.

Coups have no place in our modern world.

I welcome the resolution of the Human Rights Council, pledge to implement your request, and express my full support to the people of Myanmar in their pursuit of democracy, peace, human rights and the rule of law.

People around the world are relying on us to secure and protect their rights. With the pandemic shining a spotlight on human rights, recovery gives us an opportunity to generate momentum for transformation.

Now is the time to reset. To reshape. To rebuild. To recover better, guided by human rights and human dignity for all.

I am convinced it is possible – if we are determined and if we work together.

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26 february 2024, secretary-general's remarks to the human rights council, antónio guterres.

Our world is changing at warp speed. The multiplication of conflicts is causing unprecedented suffering. But human rights are a constant. They bring coherence to our search for solutions. And they are fundamental to our hopes for a world at peace … Protecting human rights protects us all.

[Bilingual as delivered; scroll down for all-English]

Mr President of the General Assembly, Mr President of the Human Rights Council, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen.

Human rights are the bedrock of peace.

Today, both are under attack.

We meet at a time of turbulence for our world, for people, and for human rights.

First and foremost, conflicts are taking a terrible toll as parties to war trample on human rights and humanitarian law.

At the local level and online, many communities are riven with violent rhetoric, discrimination and hate speech.

Add to that an information war. A war on the poor. And a war on nature.

All these battles have one thing in common: they are a war on fundamental human rights.

And in every case, the path to peace begins with full respect for all human rights – civil, cultural, economic, political and social, and without double standards.

Because building a culture of human rights is building a world at peace. I commend the critical contributions of the Human Rights Council towards this goal, through its mandates and mechanisms, and its response to evolving situations.

Excellencies,

Our world is becoming less safe by the day.

After decades of stable power relations, we are transitioning into an era of multipolarity.

This creates new opportunities for leadership and justice on the international stage.

But multipolarity without strong multilateral institutions is a recipe for chaos.

As powers compete, tensions rise.

The rule of law, and the rules of war, are being undermined.

From Ukraine to Sudan to Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Gaza, parties to conflict are turning a blind eye to international law, the Geneva Conventions and even the United Nations Charter.

The Security Council is often deadlocked, unable to act on the most significant peace and security issues of our time.

The Council’s lack of unity on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and on Israel’s military operations in Gaza following the horrific terror attacks by Hamas on 7 October, has severely – perhaps fatally – undermined its authority.

The Council needs serious reform to its composition and working methods.

Nothing can justify [Hamas’s] deliberate killing, injuring, torturing and kidnapping of civilians, the use of sexual violence – or the indiscriminate launching of rockets towards Israel.

But nothing justifies the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.

I invoked Article 99 for the first time in my mandate, to put the greatest possible pressure on the Council to do everything in its power to end the bloodshed in Gaza and prevent escalation. But it was not enough.

International Humanitarian Law remains under attack.

Tens of thousands of civilians, including women and children, have been killed in Gaza.

Humanitarian aid is still completely insufficient.

Rafah is the core of the humanitarian aid operation, and UNRWA is the backbone of that effort.

An all-out Israeli offensive on the city would not only be terrifying for more than a million Palestinian civilians sheltering there; it would put the final nail in the coffin of our aid programmes.

I repeat my call for a humanitarian ceasefire and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

Around the world, violence is increasing, and conflict-related human rights violations are spreading.

International human rights and humanitarian law are clear:

All parties must distinguish between civilians and combatants at all times.

Attacks on civilians or protected infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, are prohibited.

Indiscriminate attacks are prohibited.

Attacks where the likelihood of civilian death is disproportionate to the probable military advantage are prohibited.

The taking and holding of hostages is prohibited.

The use of civilians as human shields is prohibited.

Collective punishment is prohibited.

The use of sexual violence as a weapon of war is prohibited.

And violations by one party do not absolve the other from compliance.

We cannot – we must not – become numb to appalling and repeated violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.

All allegations of serious violations and abuses demand urgent investigation and accountability.

And we are determined to take such action in relation to allegations against our own staff.

The Geneva Conventions, which require the protection of civilians and the humane treatment of people in enemy hands, were not the result of an outbreak of global goodwill.

These treaties were agreed because they protect everyone.

Around the world, warring parties claim exemptions, asserting that certain people or situations are uniquely dangerous.

But flouting international law only feeds insecurity and results in more bloodshed.

Human rights conventions and humanitarian law are based on cold, hard reality:

They recognize that terrorizing civilians and depriving them of food, water, and healthcare is a recipe for endless anger, alienation, extremism and conflict.

Today’s warmongers cannot erase the clear lesson of the past.

Protecting human rights protects us all.

We urgently need a new commitment to all human rights – civil, cultural, economic, political and social – as they apply to peace and security, backed by serious efforts at implementation and accountability.

States have the primary responsibility to protect and promote human rights.

To support states in meeting their obligations, I am launching a system-wide United Nations Agenda for Protection, together with the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Under this Agenda, the United Nations, across the full spectrum of our work, will act as one to prevent human rights violations, and to identify and respond to them when they take place.

That is the Protection Pledge of all United Nations bodies: to do their utmost to protect people.

Around the world, governments must step up and commit to working for peace and security rooted in human rights.

The Summit of the Future in September is our opportunity for such a re-commitment.

The New Agenda for Peace, to be discussed at the Summit, applies a human rights lens to preventing and ending violence in all its forms.

Building on our Call to Action for Human Rights, it urges an end to reflexive responses to violence, underscoring the need for strategic, comprehensive approaches that address root causes.

Successful peace processes, from Colombia to Northern Ireland, demonstrate that the full spectrum of human rights is indispensable to building peace.

The New Agenda for Peace recognizes that security policies that ignore human rights can divide communities, exacerbate inequalities, and drive people towards extremism.

It calls for all military engagement to respect human rights and humanitarian law, and to be backed by political and development strategies.

It urges security policies centred on people, with the full and equal participation of women, and the strong representation of young people.

It calls for human rights to be at the heart of the governance of new weapons technologies, including artificial intelligence, and seeks the total prohibition of lethal autonomous weapons with the power to kill without human involvement.

It affirms that human rights and humanitarian law apply in cyberspace.

And it calls for much closer collaboration between the UN’s human rights frameworks, the Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission – to address violations, and put human rights at the core of peace operations.

The New Agenda for Peace also addresses the links between human rights violations and violence at the community level.

From the epidemic of violence against women and girls, to the activities of criminal gangs, to rising antisemitism, anti-Muslim bigotry, the persecution of minority Christian communities, and discrimination against minorities of all kinds, many people do not feel safe in their own communities.

Media workers and human rights defenders are frequently targeted—sometimes as part of a strategy to reduce civic space and silence criticism.

Decades of progress on women’s and girls’ rights are being challenged and rolled back – including their fundamental right to education and healthcare, and their sexual and reproductive rights.

The New Agenda for Peace urges governments to create space in national security policies for civil society, human rights defenders, and those representing vulnerable and marginalized people. Freedom of the media, freedom of expression and an open, inclusive civic space are essential to peaceful, democratic societies.

It calls for the dismantling and transformation of power structures that discriminate against women and girls; and for concrete steps to secure women’s full, equal and meaningful participation at all levels of decision-making on peace and security.

And it presses for young people to be included as participants in decision-making on peace and security events.

We are also setting out ways to tackle online abuses of human rights and support people’s rights to connectivity and privacy online, through our forthcoming code of conduct for information integrity, and a Global Digital Compact.

Peaceful communities require an open, secure, accessible digital public space that supports human rights and freedoms.

Excellences,

Les guerres ne se limitent pas aux champs de bataille.

Certaines politiques économiques actuelles, à l’échelon national comme au niveau mondial, constituent une guerre contre les pauvres, et contre les droits humains.

De nombreuses économies en développement peinent encore à se relever du double choc de la pandémie de COVID-19 et de l’invasion russe de l’Ukraine. Les Objectifs de développement durable sont très loin d’être atteints.

Rien que cette année, les pays les plus pauvres du monde doivent verser plus de 185 milliards de dollars en service de la dette – soit plus que le total de leurs dépenses publiques en matière de santé, d’éducation et d’infrastructures.

L’absence de bouée de sauvetage face à la dette met en péril la capacité de millions de personnes à jouir de leurs droits – à l’eau potable, à une alimentation nutritive, à l’éducation, aux soins de santé et à l’emploi.

L’architecture financière mondiale est au cœur de cette crise des droits humains. Elle est obsolète, dysfonctionnelle et injuste, et doit être réformée afin de fournir des financements à long terme et à faible coût, et constituer un filet de sécurité efficace pour tous les pays qui en ont besoin.

Nous demandons l’adoption d’un Plan de relance des ODD – à la hauteur de 500 milliards de dollars par an – afin que les pays en développement puissent accéder à des financements abordables et à long terme.

Et nous appelons également de nos vœux à un nouveau Bretton Woods, afin de remodeler l’architecture financière mondiale pour qu’elle reflète le monde d’aujourd’hui – et non celui d’il y a 80 ans.

Le Sommet de l’avenir sera l’occasion d’envisager des réformes profondes visant à rendre les cadres de financement mondiaux plus inclusifs, équitables et justes, afin qu’ils puissent aider les gouvernements à donner la priorité aux dépenses sociales, au développement durable et à l’action climatique essentielle aux droits humains.

Le Sommet social mondial et la Conférence internationale sur le financement au développement qui se tiendront l’année prochaine mettront l’accent sur la manière dont les politiques économiques, y compris les budgets, les mesures fiscales et les subventions, peuvent renforcer les investissements dans les Objectifs de développement durable et les droits humains pour toutes et tous.

Excellences, chers amis,

Notre guerre contre la nature est une guerre contre les droits humains de personnes qui comptent parmi les plus vulnérables au monde : les peuples autochtones ; les communautés rurales ; les personnes marginalisées et les plus démunies.

Les crises qui frappent notre planète – le changement climatique, la perte de biodiversité et la pollution – portent toutes en elles la même injustice profonde : Ce sont les personnes qui ont le moins contribué à ces crises qui en paient le prix fort et subissent de plein fouet l’aggravation de la faim et de la famine, la dégradation des terres, les déplacements forcés, la contamination des sources d’eau ou les décès prématurés.

La reconnaissance du droit à un environnement propre, sain et durable par le Conseil des droits de l’homme en 2021 et par l’Assemblée générale en 2022 montre que les temps changent.

La justice environnementale et la justice climatique sont des cris de ralliement en faveur d’un traitement équitable et éthique du principe de responsabilité et des droits humains.

La justice climatique exige que les pays du G20 montrent la voie dans l’élimination progressive des combustibles fossiles.

Elle exige que toutes les contributions déterminées au niveau national ou plans climatiques nationaux soient alignés sur la limite maximale de 1,5 degré pour le réchauffement de la planète.

Elle exige un prix du carbone effectif et la fin des subventions accordées aux combustibles fossiles.

La justice climatique exige des pays développés qu’ils honorent leurs engagements financiers à l’égard des économies en développement, en commençant par celui de mobiliser les 100 milliards de dollars par an et de doubler le financement de l’adaptation d’ici à 2025.

Enfin, elle exige que le Fonds pour les pertes et dommages soit opérationnel le plus rapidement possible – et reçoive des contributions significatives.

Pour de nombreux pays du Sud, la justice économique, environnementale et climatique est le principal défi de notre époque en matière de droits humains.

L’Organisation des Nations Unies se joint à eux pour appeler à tous les pays pour qu’ils assument leurs responsabilités.

Notre monde change à une vitesse vertigineuse. La multiplication des conflits provoque des souffrances sans précédent. Mais les droits humains sont une constante. Ils donnent de la cohérence à notre quête de solutions. Ils sont fondamentaux pour nos espoirs d’un monde en paix.

Il y a quatre ans, l’Organisation des Nations Unies a célébré son soixante-quinzième anniversaire en lançant une enquête mondiale. Les citoyens du monde entier ont déclaré à une écrasante majorité qu’ils souhaitaient que les dirigeants mondiaux accordent la priorité aux droits humains et qu’ils les respectent.

Cet appel a été repris lors de la célébration du soixante-quinzième anniversaire de la Déclaration universelle des droits de l’homme en décembre dernier.

Cette année, le Sommet de l’avenir nous donne l’occasion de répondre à cette demande. Et de faire en sorte que nos institutions mondiales soient en phase avec la réalité en constante évolution d’aujourd’hui.

Et de pleinement adhérer aux valeurs immuables des droits humains.

Ensemble, saisissons cette occasion pour faire avancer la paix et les droits humains – pour toutes et pour tous.

Et je vous remercie.

**************************************************************************

[All-English]

Because building a culture of human rights is building a world at peace.

I commend the critical contributions of the Human Rights Council towards this goal, through its mandates and mechanisms, and its response to evolving situations.

Attacks on civilians or protected infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, are prohibited. 

Forced displacement is prohibited.

War is not only waged on the battlefield.

Some of today’s economic policies, at both national and global levels, constitute a war on the poor – and on human rights.

Many developing economies are still struggling to recover from the double shock of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Sustainable Development Goals are very far off-track.

The world’s poorest countries are due to pay over $185 billion in debt services costs this year – more than their total public spending on health, education and infrastructure.

The absence of a debt lifeline jeopardises the ability of millions of people to realise their rights to clean drinking water, a nutritious diet, education, healthcare, and jobs.

The global financial architecture is at the heart of this human rights emergency.

It is outdated, dysfunctional and unjust, and it must be reformed to provide long-term, low-cost financing and an effective safety net for all countries in need.

We are pushing for an SDG Stimulus of $500 billion annually in affordable long-term finance for developing countries.

We are also calling for a new Bretton Woods moment, to reshape the global financial architecture in line with today’s reality – not the world of 80 years ago.

The Summit of the Future will consider deep reforms to make global financial frameworks more inclusive, equitable and just, so they can support governments in prioritizing social spending, sustainable development and climate action, essential to human rights.

Next year’s World Social Summit and International Conference on Financing for Development will focus on ways in which economic policies, including budgets, taxes and subsidies, can reinforce investments in the SDGs and human rights for all.

Excellencies, dear friends,

Our war on nature is a war on the human rights of some of the most vulnerable people in the world: Indigenous People; rural communities; the marginalized and dispossessed.

The crises assaulting our planet – climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution – all have a massive injustice at their core:

Those who did least to cause these crises are bearing the brunt of rising hunger and famine, land degradation, forced displacement, contaminated water sources and premature deaths.

The recognition of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment by the Human Rights Council in 2021 and by the General Assembly in 2022 shows that times are changing.

Environmental justice and climate justice are rallying cries for ethical, equitable treatment, accountability and human rights.

Climate justice demands that G20 countries lead the progressive phase-out of fossil fuels.

It demands that all Nationally Determined Contributions, or national climate plans, align with the 1.5-degree upper limit on global heating.

It demands an effective carbon price and an end to fossil fuel subsidies.

It demands the developed countries meet their finance commitments to developing economies – starting with the $100 billion and doubling adaptation funding by 2025.

And it demands that the Loss and Damage Fund is up and running as soon as possible, with significant contributions.

For many countries of the Global South, economic, environmental and climate justice are the defining human rights challenges of our time.

The United Nations stands with them in calling on all countries to assume their responsibilities.

Our world is changing at warp speed.

The multiplication of conflicts is causing unprecedented suffering.

But human rights are a constant.

They bring coherence to our search for solutions.

And they are fundamental to our hopes for a world at peace.

Four years ago, the United Nations marked its 75th anniversary with a global survey. Overwhelmingly, people everywhere said they want world leaders to prioritize and deliver human rights.

This call was echoed as we marked the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights last December.

This year’s Summit of the Future is our opportunity to answer that demand.

To align our global institutions with today’s ever-changing reality.

And to embrace the unchanging values of human rights.

Together, let’s seize this opportunity to advance peace and human rights for all.

• Switzerland
• Human Rights, democracy
• Daily Schedule
• Appointment Process
• Role of the Secretary-General
• Former Secretaries-General
• Official Travels
• Deputy Secretary-General
• Senior Management Group
• Global Leadership
• Messengers of Peace
• Annual Report on the Work of the Organization
• Coordinator for Multilingualism
• Public Disclosure
• Opinion pieces/Op-eds
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• Speech Writing /

1-Minute Speech on Human Rights for Students

• Updated on  
• Nov 29, 2023

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, ‘A right delayed is a right denied.’ He led the American Civil Rights Movement for equal rights for African Americans in the USA. In 1964, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for fighting against racial discrimination using non-violence, which he learned from Mahatma Gandhi’s ideology. He encouraged the mass participation of people who collectively worked for equal rights. This was just one example where people actively participated in fighting for their human rights. Below we have highlighted a speech on human rights for students which will offer you insights about them.

Table of Contents

• 1 What are Human Rights?
• 2 1-Minute Speech on Human Rights
• 3  Paragraph on Human Rights
• 4 8 Quotes on Human Rights

Also Read: 160+ Best and Easy English Speech Topics for Students

What are Human Rights?

In 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). UDHR includes a broad range of civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights essential to human well-being. The nature of these rights is universal; they are offered to every human being regardless of nationality, ethnicity, religion, gender, or any other differences. 

Also Read: Essay on Feminism for Students

1-Minute Speech on Human Rights

‘My warm regards to everyone present here. I stand before you to present my ‘Speech on Human Rights.’ Today, we can freely travel anywhere in the world, obviously with valid documents. Well, this was not the case 50 years ago. Human rights activists like Martin Luther King Jr., Malala Yousufzai, Rosa Parks, and hundreds of others have bravely fought for human rights.’

‘Some of the basic human rights are the right to life and liberty, the right to work and education, freedom from slavery and torture, and freedom of opinion and expression. These are not just abstract ideals; they are legal rights written under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. For a fruitful and sustained future, it is our duty to collectively protect and promote these rights equally among all people.’

‘To fully implement human rights, we must advocate, educate, and empower individuals to stand up against injustice. A world of 8 billion population cannot live in harmony without human rights. Therefore, to fully implement human rights, comprehensive and sustained efforts are required.’

Also Read: Essay on Human Rights

Also Read: Social Media Bane or Boon: Short and Long Speech for Students

 Paragraph on Human Rights

Also Read: Speech on the Importance of English in 250 to 500 Words

8 Quotes on Human Rights

Here are 8 quotes on human rights. Feel free to add them to your speech on human rights.

• ‘Human rights mean the right to good health, a dignified life, and respect for the will of everyday people.’ – Denia Castillo
• ‘Human rights mean no one sleeps hungry.’ – Hassan Abdille
• To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.’ – Nelson Mandela
• ‘All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.’ – Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• ‘Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government. They are every human being’s entitlement by virtue of his humanity.’ – Mother Teresa
• “The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.’ – John F. Kennedy
• ‘We declare that human rights are for all of us, all the time: whoever we are and wherever we are from; no matter our class, our opinions, our sexual orientation.’ – Archbishop Desmond Tutu
• ‘Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where the people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free.’ – 14th Dalai Lama

Ans: Human rights are basic universal rights that are offered to every human being to live a fruitful life. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) includes a broad range of civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights essential to human well-being.

Ans: Human rights were adopted by the UNGA in 1948 when Eleanor Roosevelt chaired the assembly. He passed the UDHR Resolution.

Ans: Human rights are important in this aspect as they protect the dignity and integrity of every human being on equal terms. 

Related Articles

For more information on such interesting speech topics for your school, visit our speech writing page and follow Leverage Edu .

Shiva Tyagi

With an experience of over a year, I've developed a passion for writing blogs on wide range of topics. I am mostly inspired from topics related to social and environmental fields, where you come up with a positive outcome.

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Democratic Republic of Congo flag behind Biden during his Morehouse address explained

A professor at Morehouse College unfurled a Democratic Republic of Congo flag behind President Joe Biden during his commencement address Sunday, as security forces thwarted a coup attempt in the country.

The leader of the alleged attempted coup was killed, and 50 people, including three American citizens , were arrested, according to a spokesperson for the Central African country's army who spoke to Reuters.

Violence has escalated this year between the DRC's army and Rwandan-backed forces in a conflict that has lasted more than 30 years. The United Nations reported that the number of internally displaced people in DRC had reached a record high of 6.9 million in October 2023.

Foreign conflicts steal the show

Friends of the Congo, a Pan-African solidarity organization, posted a 45-second clip to X, formerly Twitter, of a faculty member unfurling the DRC flag behind Biden as he approached the podium to begin his address.

"This is what solidarity looks like," the post reads. "May the new graduates follow the examples set by these professors."

More: At revered Black school, Biden leans into faith and tells grads he hears voices of dissent

Howard University professor Dr. Greg Carr said in a post that his brother and Morehouse College professor Dr. Samuel T. Livingston was the faculty member who unfurled the flag. Livingston could not immediately be reached for comment.

Human rights activist Kambale Musavuli thanked the Morehouse faculty "for elevating the Congo today and every day!"

Biden's address at the historically Black men's college was also partially overshadowed by pro-Palestinian protesters holding a rally organized under the banner of "Say No to Genocide Joe Speaking at Morehouse" about a mile away.

The school's valedictorian also discussed the conflict in Gaza during his speech before Biden's remarks. Biden called for an "immediate ceasefire" between Israel and Hamas during his address.

Sign up for Your Vote:  Text USA TODAY reporters and the elections team by  joining our SMS service.

Rachel Barber is a 2024 election fellow at USA TODAY, focusing on politics and education. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, as @rachelbarber_

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Is There a Constitutional Right to Talk About Abortion?

By Linda Greenhouse

Ms. Greenhouse, the recipient of a 1998 Pulitzer Prize, reported on the Supreme Court for The Times from 1978 to 2008 and was a contributing Opinion writer from 2009 to 2021.

There has hardly ever been as fierce a defender of free speech as the current Supreme Court.

Since John Roberts became chief justice almost 19 years ago, the court has expanded the protective net of the First Amendment to cover such activities as selling videos depicting animal torture, spending unlimited amounts of money in support of political candidates and refusing to pay dues (or a dues-like fee) to a public employee union.

This last decision, Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council 31, overturned a 41-year-old precedent and led a dissenting justice, Elena Kagan, to accuse the majority of “weaponizing the First Amendment.” In the 303 Creative case last year, the court gave a Christian web designer the First Amendment right not to do business with would-be customers whose same-sex wedding websites would violate her views about marriage.

The court’s version of free speech has become a powerful tool against government regulation. Six years ago, effectively striking down a California law, the court gave so-called crisis pregnancy centers — offices that try to imitate abortion clinics but strive to persuade women to continue their pregnancies — a First Amendment right not to provide information on where a woman could actually get an abortion. The state said the notice was needed to help women who came to such centers under the false impression that they provided abortions. In his majority opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas said the “unduly burdensome” requirement amounted to unconstitutionally compelled speech.

Now the question is whether the court’s solicitude toward those who would rather not talk about abortion extends in the other direction. What about state laws that prohibit rather than require offering information about where to get an abortion?

While there is not yet such a case on the Supreme Court’s docket, lower courts have been tightening a First Amendment noose around efforts by anti-abortion states to curb the flow of information about how to obtain legal abortion care across state lines. Federal District Courts in Indiana and Alabama both ruled this month that while states in the wake of Roe v. Wade’s demise can ban abortion, they cannot make it illegal to give abortion-related advice, including advice to minors seeking abortions without parental consent.

A federal magistrate judge issued a similar ruling last November on Idaho’s abortion law, one of the most extreme in the country, which makes it a crime to assist a minor in obtaining an abortion in any state without a parent’s consent. Idaho could criminalize abortion, the judge, Debora Grasham, wrote. “What the state cannot do,” she went on, “is craft a statute muzzling the speech and expressive activities of a particular viewpoint with which the state disagrees under the guise of parental rights.” The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard Idaho’s appeal on May 7.

With the Supreme Court extremely unlikely to revisit its decision 23 months ago in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that eradicated the constitutional right to abortion, the question of how far states can go to prevent their citizens from finding alternative ways to terminate a pregnancy will become increasingly urgent. In his concurring opinion in the Dobbs case, Justice Brett Kavanaugh raised the question of whether a state could now “bar a resident of that state from traveling to another state to obtain an abortion.” The answer was “no,” he continued, “based on the constitutional right to interstate travel.” It is worth noting that Justice Kavanaugh wrote only for himself; none of the other conservatives who made up the Dobbs majority joined him. “Other abortion-related legal questions may emerge in the future,” Justice Kavanaugh offered noncommittally.

The future arrived quickly enough in the form of the two abortion-related cases awaiting decision before the court’s current term, which concludes at the end of June or in early July. Both are anomalous in that they involve questions of federal rather than state authority.

One, Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine , concerns the government’s approval of the expanded use of the medication that first received F.D.A. approval 24 years ago. Medication abortion now accounts for more than half of abortions in the United States. The case contains an off-ramp for the court that, based on the argument in March, the justices appear likely to take: Because the anti-abortion doctors, dentists and medical groups who challenged the F.D.A. suffered no harm from the availability of the medication, and are unlikely to suffer harm in the future, they never had standing to bring the case in the first place.

The other, Moyle v. United States, results from a clash between the federal government and Idaho over whether federal law requires the state to provide emergency abortion care in its hospitals. The outcome largely depends on whether the court accepts the Biden administration’s view that there is no abortion exception to the law at issue, which prohibits hospitals from turning away people who need emergency care.

In the abortion cases in Indiana, Idaho and Alabama that may yet find their way to the Supreme Court, the justices would face the acute dilemma of reconciling their fealty to the First Amendment with the profound anti-abortion sentiment the Dobbs majority opinion displayed.

In defending their laws, the states argue that what they are prohibiting is not actually speech but conduct, namely inducing criminal activity. Rejecting this argument in the Indiana case, Judge Sarah Evans Barker of Federal District Court wrote that the Planned Parenthood affiliate that challenged the law simply “seeks to provide truthful information to clients regarding out-of-state options and medical referrals to out-of-state providers for abortion services that are legal in those states.” A prohibition on providing such information, the judge said, “does not further any interest Indiana may have in investigating criminal conduct within its borders.” In the Alabama case, another Federal District Court judge, Myron Thompson, observed that “unable to proscribe out-of-state abortions, the attorney general interprets state law as punishing the speech necessary to obtain them.”

From the cases they are in the process of deciding this term, the justices are well aware that their effort to wash their hands of the nettlesome business of abortion has failed. One or more of the First Amendment cases is likely to reach the court during its next term. I wonder if the justices have a clue about how much pain lies ahead when they have to decide whether the right to speak inevitably encompasses the right to choose.

Linda Greenhouse, the recipient of a 1998 Pulitzer Prize, reported on the Supreme Court for The Times from 1978 to 2008 and was a contributing Opinion writer from 2009 to 2021.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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TikTok users sue federal government over new law that could lead to ban of popular app

By Melissa Quinn

Updated on: May 14, 2024 / 6:46 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — A group of prominent TikTok users sued the federal government on Tuesday over a new law that would force the sale of the widely popular video-sharing app or lead to its ban in the United States.

The eight users, who together have millions of followers on TikTok, argued that the law signed by President Biden last month violates their First Amendment rights by threatening to shut down a communication medium that has become a prevalent part of American life. They also claimed that the law keeps them from creating and sharing expressive material through their chosen publisher, as well as viewing content from other users.

Among the users involved in the court fight are Chloe Joy Sexton of Memphis, Tennessee, who has 2.2 million followers on TikTok; Christopher Townsend of Philadelphia, Mississippi, who has amassed 2.5 million followers; and Steven King of Buckeye, Arizona, who has 6.8 million followers. 

The law, they said, "undermines the nation's founding principles and free marketplace of ideas. The First Amendment to our Constitution precludes Congress from censoring speech because of its content, viewpoints, editorial practices, or identity of speakers or publishers."

The suit is the second filed in federal court that challenges the law, called the Protecting Americans from the Adversary Controlled Applications Act, and seeks to block the Biden administration from enforcing it. TikTok and its parent company ByteDance filed their own petition in federal court in Washington last week that claims the law is outside the bounds of the First Amendment.

Both petitions were filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which the measure specifies has exclusive jurisdiction over challenges to it.

"This legislation addresses critical national security concerns in a manner that is consistent with the First Amendment and other constitutional limitations," a Justice Department spokesperson told CBS News in a statement Tuesday. "We look forward to defending the legislation in court."

The law targeting TikTok was included in a foreign aid package passed by Congress last month and signed by Mr. Biden shortly after. The legislation requires ByteDance, headquartered in Beijing, to sell its stake in TikTok within 270 days, though the president could extend that deadline by 90 days. If ByteDance fails to divest from the platform within that time frame, TikTok would lose access to mobile app store services and web-hosting providers, effectively cutting it off from the estimated 170 million U.S. users.

The measure stemmed from concerns raised by lawmakers and U.S. national security officials about TikTok and warnings that the Chinese government could use the app to spy on Americans or weaponize content to influence public opinion.

TikTok's powerful recommendation algorithm has been a driver of the app's popularity, and the platform said in court filings that the Chinese government opposes a divestment of the technology. Attempts to cut TikTok's operations from ByteDance would leave the platform "without access to the recommendation engine that has created a unique style and community that cannot be replicated on any other platform," the companies said in their separate legal challenge.

For several of the users behind the latest petition, they argued that TikTok has led to income streams and served as a launchpad to opportunities off the app. They warned that if the platform is banned, they risk losing their ties to communities of followers and revenue generated from videos and products sold through the platform. Though the users said they have accounts on other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, both owned by Meta, they said that they have fewer followers and their content does not have the same reach.

"TikTok creates a universe where everyday Americans from all walks of life can connect, communicate, and find their communities just by being themselves," the users said in their petition. "Visibility on TikTok is not driven by someone's fame or fortune but by connections inspired by individual authentic expression."

As with the challenge from TikTok and ByteDance, the filing from the platform's users noted that Mr. Biden's campaign has a TikTok account, as do several senators. They also claimed that TikTok has taken steps to protect U.S. user data and the platform from foreign influence, in part through an initiative called "Project Texas" and commitments made through a draft agreement with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

The users accused members of Congress who called for the app to be banned of creating "a fiction that TikTok curates content to push propaganda" and deliberately amplifies videos that aim to divide the nation.

"Congress's decision to focus on TikTok demonstrates animus toward the speech TikTok publishes and the speakers who publish it," they wrote in their petition.

Efforts to restrict access to TikTok because of national security concerns are not new, and more than 30 states and the federal government ban the app on state-issued devices. The Trump administration attempted to ban the app in 2020, but TikTok and users who challenged former President Donald Trump's executive order targeting the platform prevailed in federal courts. A judge blocked a Montana law  last year that prohibits the app in part on First Amendment grounds.

Scott MacFarlane contributed to this report

Melissa Quinn is a politics reporter for CBSNews.com. She has written for outlets including the Washington Examiner, Daily Signal and Alexandria Times. Melissa covers U.S. politics, with a focus on the Supreme Court and federal courts.

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May 19, 2024 helicopter crash involving Iranian president

By Antoinette Radford, Dakin Andone, Michelle Shen, Steve Almasy, Matt Meyer and Kathleen Magramo, CNN

Iranian media has confirmed the death of Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi. Our live coverage continues here .

President Raisi was likely traveling on a Bell 212 helicopter acquired before the Iranian Revolution, military expert says

From CNN's Rhea Mogul

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was likely traveling on a Bell 212 helicopter that began operating in the late 1960s, according to CNN military analyst Cedric Leighton.

Leighton told CNN's Paula Newton that the difficulty in obtaining spare parts could have played a factor in the crash.

The helicopter was first produced in the United States and then in Canada, Leighton, a retired US Air Force colonel, said.

“It was first introduced during the latter period of the Shah’s rule in 1976 in commercial form and it had a life before that in the US military, so the actual start of this particular type of helicopter may have been as early as the late 1960s,” Leighton said.

“So spare parts would have definitely been an issue for the Iranians.”

“In this particular case, I think this confluence of spare parts, because of the sanctions, plus the weather which was very bad over the last few days in this particular part of northwestern Iran. All of that, I think contributed to a series of incidents and a series of decisions that the pilot and possibly even the president himself made when it came to flying this aircraft… And unfortunately for them, the result is this crash.”

Drone footage shows wreckage of crashed helicopter

By CNN's Jerome Taylor

Iran’s president and foreign minister are presumed dead after Iranian media agencies reported that “no survivors” were found at the crash site of a helicopter carrying the two men and seven others.

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian were among the senior officials on board the downed helicopter.

Drone footage of the wreckage taken by the Red Crescent and carried on state media FARS News Agency showed the crash site on a steep, wooded hillside, with little remaining of the helicopter beyond a blue and white tail.

No official announcement of their deaths has yet been made.

Reuters news agency also cited an unnamed Iranian official as saying all passengers are feared dead.

No signs of life from helicopter passengers, says head of Iranian Red Crescent

From CNN's Negar Mahmoodi 

There are no signs of life from those traveling on the helicopter that crashed in Iran's East Azerbaijan province, said Pir-Hossein Kolivand, head of the Iranian Red Crescent, according to Iranian state news IRIB.

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi is believed dead after Iranian agencies reported that "no survivors" were found at the crash site of a helicopter carrying the leader, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, and seven others.

BREAKING: "No survivors" found at crash site of helicopter carrying Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi, Iranian agencies report

From CNN's Artemis Moshtaghian 

"No survivors" were found at the crash site of the helicopter carrying Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi, Iranian state news agency IRINN and semi-official news agency Mehr News reported.

Some background: A former hardline judiciary chief, Raisi was Iran’s eighth president. The former prosecutor and judge was elected in 2021 following a historically uncompetitive presidential contest.

He oversaw a period of  intensified repression of dissent , according to human rights monitors.

Next in the line of succession would be First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, if approved by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran's Supreme Leader serves as the final arbiter of domestic and foreign affairs in the Islamic Republic, dwarfing the powers of the country's president.

Unlike his predecessor, the moderate former President Hassan Rouhani, Raisi had fostered a close alliance with Khamenei. Many Iranians believed Raisi was being groomed to one day succeed the ailing 85-year-old Khamenei.

CNN's Tamara Qiblawi contributed reporting to this post.

Rescuers have reached crash site of helicopter carrying Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi

From Negar Mahmoodi and Artemis Moshtaghian

Rescuers have reached the crash site of the helicopter carrying President Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency.

The agency did not say the condition of those who were on board the helicopter.

At least 73 rescue teams are in the area of the helicopter crash near the village of Tavil in Iran's East Azerbaijan province, according to Pir-Hossein Kolivand, head of the Iranian Red Crescent, Tasnim reported.

Kolivand said the "the situation is not good," according to Iranian state news IRNA.

It's 6 a.m. in Tehran. Here's what we know

The crash site of the helicopter carrying Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi has been located, Iranian state news agency IRNA and semi-official news outlet ISNA reported on Monday. 

The helicopter crashed in a remote part of the country on Sunday.

As president of Iran, Raisi is the second most powerful individual in the Islamic Republic's political structure after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He became president in a historically uncompetitive election in 2021, and he has overseen a period of intensified repression of dissent in a nation convulsed by youth-led protests against religious clerical rule.

The crash comes at a fraught moment in the Middle East, with war raging in Gaza and weeks after Iran launched a drone-and-missile attack on Israel in response to a deadly strike on its diplomatic compound in Damascus.

Here’s what to know:

• Others on board: Nine people were onboard the helicopter, including the country's foreign minister, and their status remains unknown as rescue operations continue through the early hours on Monday.
• Rescue: Rescuers are contending with dense fog and extreme cold in the country's remote East Azerbaijan Province. A Turkish drone had located a heat source but have not reached the crash site nor located the helicopter. Turkey and Russia have said they are sending aircraft to help in search operations.

BREAKING: Rescuers locate crash site of helicopter carrying Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi, state media says

 From CNN's Negar Mahmoodi and Artemis Moshtaghian 

The crash site of the helicopter carrying Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi and the country's foreign minister has been located, Iranian state news agency IRNA and semi-official news outlet ISNA reported on Monday. 

Rescuers are approaching the scene of the accident, ISNA said, citing Pir-Hossein Kolivand, head of the Iranian Red Crescent.

State media did not give the exact location of the site. 

More to follow.

Analysis: Helicopter crash comes at a fraught time for region — and Iran itself

From CNN's Jerome Taylor

The crash of a helicopter carrying Iran’s president and foreign minister comes at an especially fraught moment in the Middle East – and for Iran domestically.

Israel’s war against Hamas and the subsequent humanitarian catastrophe that has unfolded in Gaza over the last seven months has inflamed global opinion and sent tensions soaring across the Middle East. 

It has also brought a decades-long shadow war between Iran and Israel out into the open.

Last month Iran launched an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel — its first ever direct attack on the country — in response to a deadly apparent Israeli airstrike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus that killed a top commander in Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). 

Israel struck back a week later , according to US officials, hitting targets outside the Iranian city of Isfahan with a much smaller, calibrated response. 

Since then the tit-for-tat direct strikes between the two have stopped. But the proxy war continues with Iran-backed militias such as Hamas and Hezbollah continuing to fight Israel’s forces.

Meanwhile, Iran’s hardline leadership has weathered an explosion of recent popular dissent on the streets at home where years of US-led sanctions have hit hard.

The country was convulsed by youth-led demonstrations against clerical rule and worsening economic conditions following the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s notorious morality police.

Iranian authorities have since launched a widening crackdown on dissent in response to the protests.

That crackdown has led to human rights violations, some of which amount to “crimes against humanity,” according to a United Nations report released in March.

And while the protests for now have largely stopped, opposition to clerical leadership remains deeply entrenched among many Iranians, especially the young, who yearn for reform, jobs and a move away from stifling religious rule.

A former hardline judiciary chief with his own brutal human rights record, Raisi was elected president in 2021 in a vote that was heavily engineered by the Islamic Republic’s political elite so that he would run virtually uncontested.

While he is president, his powers are dwarfed by those of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who is the final arbiter of domestic and foreign affairs in the Islamic Republic.  

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