Human Rights Commission and City Council honor the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

News Article
City Council honors the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Published
Updated
In this article

City Council with Human Rights Commission
The Portland Human Rights Commission and City Council gathered on December 19, 2018 to honor the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a milestone document that is considered to be the foundation of international human rights law.

Tatiana Elejalde from The Office of Equity and Human Rights was joined by Human Rights Commissioners, Côi Vũ and Chris Wallace Caldwell, as they testified to Council about the importance of the Declaration and its relevance to the work of the Portland Human Rights Commission.

Mayor Ted Wheeler proclaimed December 19, 2018, to be the day that, "Portland honors the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We call upon everyone who lives, works, studies, worships, travels and recreates in Portland to step forward and defend the human rights of everyone in our community, and especially our most vulnerable community members, lest we sacrifice our collective humanity. Together we can and must make the ideals of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights a reality in our City."

Elejalde said, "The proclamation language is powerful and we are very proud of it." The full proclamation is available at this link: https://www.portlandoregon.gov/oehr/article/707324.

The Human Rights Commission operates under the umbrella of The Office of Equity and Human Rights and is an all-volunteer advisory body comprised of Human Rights Commissioners appointed by City Council. The Human Rights Commission advises City Council and City bureaus on applying a human rights lens to policy, and advises on promoting and protecting human rights in the City of Portland.