December 10, 2021
IPC Working Group on Fisheries Statement Today, we celebrate Human Rights Day, on the same day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UDHR is a milestone document, which proclaims the inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being, such as: equity and equality, non-discrimination, consultation and participation, human dignity and the right to food. It is on those same human rights and human rights principles that the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication were developed. This year’s Human Rights Day theme is equality and non-discrimination, as clearly stated by Article 1 of the UDHR: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”. But the human rights of small-scale fishers and fisher people are far from being fulfilled and at present are threatened particularly by the Blue Economy Agenda and Climate Change and Disasters. Read the statement here