December 10, 2020
By David
Gallup
Today marks the 72nd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Two related documents also celebrate significant anniversaries this year: the 25th anniversary of the Declaration of the Principles on Tolerance and the 75th anniversary of the United Nations Charter. Both Declarations and the Charter provide a framework for building unity in a diverse world.
The impetus
for creating the Declaration on Tolerance was, as the Declaration’s Preamble
states, “the current rise in acts of intolerance, violence, terrorism,
xenophobia, aggressive nationalism, racism, anti-Semitism, exclusion, marginalization
and discrimination.” These acts dramatically impact the rights of vulnerable
groups and threaten the development of peace and democracy in the world.
The Preamble
to the United Nations Charter implores us “to practice tolerance and live
together in peace with one another as good neighbours.”
On the
anniversary of both Declarations and the Charter, we celebrate the strides we
have made to practice tolerance; at the same time, we recognize that much work
remains to be done to advance tolerance and respect for universal rights.
What does
it mean to engage tolerance in society?
Tolerance involves
active learning about and respecting the ways that our fellow humans live their
lives. Tolerance means learning other languages, cultures, beliefs, identities,
and practices as well as ecological principles. Article 1 of the
Declaration on Tolerance provides a comprehensive definition of tolerance: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000151830
Tolerance
doesn’t mean complete acceptance of others’ words, behaviors, or actions. As
the Declaration on Tolerance states, tolerance doesn’t require “concession,
condescension or indulgence . . . social injustice or the abandonment or
weakening of one's convictions.” We need not sit idly by and tolerate others’
intolerance.
Tolerance involves
ethical engagement in the world that we all share, affirming our
responsibilities to everyone as fellow citizens and to the Earth as our home. Tolerance
means having a holistic awareness of the mutual benefit to implementing our
universal rights.
How do we
achieve tolerance in society?
Education is
vital to achieving tolerance. Article 26(2) of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights affirms the connection between education, tolerance, and human
rights: “Education shall be directed to the full development of the human
personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and
fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship
among all nations, racial or religious groups.”
Additionally,
equal access to information, sustainable development, ethical governance, and
just laws can advance both tolerance and universal rights.
What is
the connection between tolerance and universal rights?
Universal
rights and tolerance are interdependent: one cannot exist without the other.
To create
awareness of the connection between tolerance and universal rights, we must
speak up, speak out, and take action. We must pay attention to the needs of our
fellow humans and to the needs of our planet. Working together, we can save the
Earth from climate destruction and save humanity from inequality, injustice,
and violence – which occur when tolerance and human rights are ignored.
If we want a
just world, we must ensure that tolerance and universal rights prevail.
How does
tolerance relate to a peaceful and governed world?
Like the
Declaration on Tolerance, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is not binding
treaty law that requires governments to respect the Declarations’ mandates.
This lack of legal engagement internationally is why we must consider
developing enforceable world law as the basis for a world community that
respects and protects diversity. The creation of global, participatory
institutions of law, such as a World Parliament and a World Court of Human and
Environmental Rights, will help us to achieve tolerance and respect for
universal rights.
As we deal
with inequality and injustice, world health, structural violence, and climate
destruction, tolerance is a mode of participation that all citizens of the
world can embrace. Living a world-citizen way of life means not only respecting
universal rights, but also considering how we will interact peacefully, ethically,
and sustainably with our fellow humans, with all other life on Earth, and with
the Earth itself.
For our continued existence on our home planet and for a potential interstellar existence, we must realize what it means to be world citizens who exercise tolerance in all aspects of our lives.
