Two moments simultaneously inform our sense of history and poke our current conscience this week. It has been at least two generations since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the All Africa Peoples Conference resolutions were adopted in 1948 and 1958 respectively. Given their impact on all areas of our lives, it is almost tragic that most people may miss their significance. Why are generations so bad at transferring their victories to the next generation and why is it so important that we must change this?

The United Nations only had 58 sovereign leaders when they met in Paris to debate and adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Those that met were preoccupied with preventing European facism and Second World War atrocities from happening again.  

The Declaration’s preamble and thirty articles set the international standard for the equality, dignity and rights of all human beings. The preamble states that it is the duty of all to work for the freedom of belief and speech and, freedom from fear and want for all. This was the first time that the term “rule of law” was used in international law.

Forty-eight UN Members voted to adopt the Declaration. Only two African countries participated with Ethiopia voting in favor of the Declaration. South Africa abstained and then returned home to implement apartheid and formal racial segregation for the next six decades. 

Sowed seeds

Africans at the time, did not get to choose who would represent them in Paris. Their exclusion and what happened next in Africa sowed the seeds of the All Africa Peoples Conference. In the case of Britain, the imperial state criminally proceeded to execute one man or women every day to defeat the Kenya Land and Freedom Army and deny Kenyans the freedoms contained in the UDHR between 1952-1956.

Three hundred delegates led by the elected chairman Tom Mboya, Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba, George Padmore and others met in Accra, Ghana. The Conference demanded immediate independence, denounced white minority domination in Southern Africa and proclaimed citizenship and equality of rights for all. The impact was swift. Kenyatta walked out of Lokitaung Prison a year later and Kenya achieved independence within five years. Within the next four decades, Mandela would be free and President of a democratic South Africa.

Stop reading this for a minute and turn to five people next to you. Ask them what they know of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or the All Africa Peoples Conference. I suspect you will be dismayed by the responses.

Generations create sharp historical moments. For the majority, it is not always clear what their specific generational challenge is. Most of you live in the world of “jisort”, hustling and adapting to the now. It is often the task of a small minority to define their generation. They set out to purposely create memories and leave legacies within a longer view. They are also comfortable with the discomfort, uncertainty and personal risk. 

Polled through the Better but Unequal: State of Human Rights Survey this week, most Kenyans feel Kenya is a much better place than 1948. However, one in two Kenyans feel that wealth inequality and corruption are obstacles to our equality under the law.

Until we can create respect for democracy and human rights as mainstream popular culture and inspire youth to lead us, the rights violations, corruption and abuse of public office will sit out there for the next seventy years. Whether we are personally affected by discrimination, neglect and unjust violations or not, we must find ways of deepening care, compassion and rights in our communities and all our public spaces. 

Over this week, you can join other Kenyans to take a set of simple actions and attend the national celebration in Nairobi on December 10. For more on how to celebrate 70 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights follow #StandUp4HumanRights. To do less would be to allow the gains of 1948 and 1958 to relapse. We cannot be remembered as that generation that failed to protect and advance the achievements of the generations that came before us.

- The writer is Amnesty International Executive Director. Irungu.houghton@amnesty.or.ke