Forum on Human Rights

December 10, 1948 marked an important date in the history of mankind when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed as a "common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations." It was mentioned in the declaration that “all are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law.” To celebrate the upcoming 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Association of World Citizens (AWC), an NGO in consultative status with ECOSOC and associated with the UN DPI, launched a series of forums on human rights. One of the forums was held on Dec. 9, 2017 in the City of Walnut, California, where many Southern Californians gathered together to discuss how to practice human rights in their professions on a daily basis. Invited speakers were Maggie Lin, a registered nurse; Kent Lee, an urgent care supervisor; Noemi M. Nakano, a preschool teacher; Dr. John Liu, a meteorologist; Conner Soule, an investment broker; and Ann Chen, a dual-licensed attorney in the U.S. and Taiwan.

In celebration of the upcoming 70th anniversary of the declaration, the United Nations encourages people to “stand up for equality, justice and human dignity.” Maggie Lin, who had worked in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a hospital for 12 years, shared examples of how she protected her patients’ human rights and dignity. She said that she would give sponge baths to her patients every day. Lin is now a cardiac catheterization laboratory nurse, and she continues to do her best to ensure that her patients are getting not only medical treatment, but also the respect and care that every human being deserves. She makes sure her patients feel comfortable with her before she starts treatments, and she patiently explains in her capacity as a nurse to their family members about the patients’ conditions to help ease their anxiety. Kent Lee, also with a medical background, works in the emergency room of a hospital taking care of children and also works as a mentor conducting trainings for other medical personnel. In his sharing, Lee compared Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs with the needs of a society. While Maslow’s theory proposes a hierarchy of needs for individuals, Lee suggested that “as a society, as a world, the same needs need to be met before we can all become actualized and move forward as a society and a world.”

Noemi M. Nakano, a preschool teacher with a teaching focus in the area of non-violence parenting and child development, reminded all that children have the rights to learn about the concept of human rights at a young age so that they understand their rights and know how to treat others with respect and stand up for themselves. As an educator, Nakano feels that it is her responsibility to teach her students how to correctly express their feelings without the feeling of shame or the fear of being judged by others. She explored the concept of unconditional love and encouraged everyone to practice giving unconditional love to others, even strangers. Conner Soules, from a multicultural marriage, pointed out that although people are entitled to their thoughts and emotions, no one belief is more “correct” than others. He said that acceptance and understanding are the key to a harmonious society, especially one that is filled with people from different generations and cultural backgrounds.

With the wildfires blazing across Southern California, Dr. John Liu proposed that a technologically advanced country should encourage its people to exercise not only their basic rights to survival, but also their rights to sustainable lifestyle, especially the rights to sustain in extreme weathers with the use of advanced technologies. He proposed the technology of moisturizing the land in dry weathers to prevent similar natural disasters and avoid worsening the current condition resulting from Santa Ana winds.

Lastly, attorney Ann Chen used the Tai Ji Men tax case in Taiwan to address the importance of taxpayer’s rights. She mentioned that the human rights of the people of Taiwan have been violated as their rights as taxpayers have been severely violated by the taxation bureau. The reason why 9 out of 10 households in Taiwan have received unfair tax bills is that its tax system is corrupt. It is not uncommon for people to receive unjustified tax bills, and when a taxpayer makes an appeal about an unfair tax bill, the success rate of such an appeal is only 6%, according to statistics. Chen stressed that the misconduct of the tax officials in Taiwan should be prohibited and punished, and every government should have a mechanism to rectify its own mistakes to ensure the rights of its people.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has set universal values for all peoples and all nations, and the United Nations encourages all people to familiarize themselves with their rights and stand up for all. The speakers received positive feedback from the audience. Amy Yu, an attendee of the forum, was deeply impacted by the profound messages shared by the speakers. As a business manager, Yu urged all people to understand their rights and stand up for themselves. The Association of World Citizens invites all to take actions to safeguard their rights and participate in the global endorsement of the Declaration on Taxpayer's Human Rights. The endorsement can be found at http://www.taxpayerhumanrights.org/endorse/index.php.