On Human Rights Day, Celebrating the Courage to Be Impertinent

Last month, legendary human rights champion Felice Gaer passed away after a long and brave battle with cancer. Gaer spent a lifetime not only speaking powerfully to the universality of human rights, but advocating for the institutional changes that would increase the pressure for world leaders to respect those rights. She was instrumental, for example, in pushing the United Nations to create the UN High Commission for Human Rights(link is external), which created a new mechanism for the UN to report and publicize human rights violations. When she realized that, too often, the UN's Committee Against Torture simply took country's claims of compliance at face value - making its work a mere box-checking exercise - she insisted that the UN publicly press governments to address allegations of human rights violations, with her tough critiques of human rights violators sometimes drawing angry outbursts from officials of offending governments.

Elena Bonner, a former Soviet political prisoner and a friend of Felice's, said that the fact that it has become more difficult for governments to simply ignore human rights violations is "thanks to individuals like Felice… who had the courage to be impertinent."

Today, as we celebrate International Human Rights Day, USAID honors brave human rights defenders like Felice and reaffirms our commitment to protecting human rights in our work around the world.

That commitment is more important now than ever before. The State Department's latest Human Rights Report shows that human rights continue to come under attack. Over the past year, we have seen horrifying attacks on civilians and humanitarians in conflicts around the world, from Sudan and Ukraine to Gaza and Burkina Faso. And we are seeing an increasing number of governments crack down on civilian expression, close important civic spaces, and deny their citizens' basic human rights.

At USAID, we are supporting those around the world who are leading the charge to uphold and protect human rights, and to speak out against injustices. We are supporting independent journalists and media outlets when they face the risk of shutting down. We are providing legal protection from lawsuits meant to silence whistleblowers. Our Justice, Rights, and Security Rapid Response award is working to support human rights defenders, and our Human Rights Grants Program is providing millions of dollars every year to our Missions to support time-sensitive human rights needs.

Today, we remember that the fight for human dignity is ongoing, and each of us has an important role to play in building a world where the rights of all people are respected and protected. We honor the unwavering courage of activists and human rights defenders such as Felice, who continue to be "impertinent" and advocate relentlessly for freedom, justice, equality, equity, and rule of law.