Celebrating our One-Year Anniversary!
We are excited to celebrate our first anniversary on this Human Rights Day.[1] This is a good time to reflect on the value of the work we’re doing to bring dignity to life and to help bend the arc of the law toward human dignity. As we extend our reach to meet new opportunities and develop new partnerships and friendships, we remain committed to the essential premise that human dignity represents the essence and equal worth of each person’s life, and that the law does and must protect each person’s right to live in dignity.
It's hard to overstate the importance of the idea of dignity. It’s the thing that human beings hold most dear and the very last thing most of us would ever give up. We know this intuitively, even if we don’t often articulate it explicitly. Consider these ways our students have described their unique conception of human dignity – in just six words!
“Our universal language, spoken fluently”
“The intangible value of all persons’ life”
“Protecting humans’ equality, free from inhumanity”
“Everyone deserves respect, compassion and fairness”
“Recognizing that everyone matters and belongs”
“To stand in someone else’s shoes”
“For you, for me, for all”
“Having respect and respect someone’s character”
“What you stand for yourself, respect”
“Being fair, and not hurting others”
“Dignity is the choices you make”
“Your own values, morals, or discipline”
“It’s the things inside of you”
Wow! They really get it!
But dignity isn’t just an important idea. It’s the shortest line between the human heart and the law. Indeed, we’re struck by the ever-expanding law that protects dignity rights with increasing emphasis.
The legal recognition of human dignity was practically invented in the Americas, when the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man opened with the affirmation that “All men are born free and equal, in dignity and in rights”[2] – language that would be adopted just 7 months later almost verbatim by the United Nations in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (which only changed “men” to “human beings”[3]). It has been a lodestar for the Inter-American Court to this day in cases ranging – just this year – from the climate[4] to the right to care.[5]
In Africa, it is the very “soul” of the human rights system.[6]
In Europe, it is part of “the very essence” of the European Convention on Human Rights[7] and protected with its own opening chapter in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.[8]
And it is recognized in the constitutions and caselaw of nations throughout Asia, from Japan and Taiwan to India and Pakistan. Every day, judges decide to protect human dignity in myriad critical ways. These cases are fascinating to read and important to build on as the law develops. That’s why we’ve created a database so you can easily and freely access it.
As our first year draws to a close, we at Dignity Now! redouble our efforts to shorten that line between the human soul and the soul of the law.
We are grateful to all the people who have helped Dignity Now! grow and who are sowing the seeds for an even brighter future: our dedicated Board of Directors and our engaged Advisory Council, our volunteer staff and team of active participants, our institutional partners throughout the world, and of course our very generous donors who support the work we do to educate, empower, and inspire people everywhere through the common thread of human dignity.
We’re excited about the opportunities that lie ahead! Stay tuned…!
[1] Human Rights Day is celebrated throughout the world in commemoration of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948.
[2] https://www.oas.org/en/iachr/mandate/Basics/american-declaration-rights-duties-of-man.pdf
[3] United Nations General Assembly. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. UN, 10 Dec. 1948.
[4] Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Advisory Opinion OC-32/25, *Climate Emergency and Human Rights*, May 29, 2025, https://corteidh.or.cr/tablas/OC-32-2025/index-eng.html
[5] See Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Advisory Opinion 31/25, recognizing a right to care as essential to human dignity. https://jurisprudencia.corteidh.or.cr/es/vid/1088056961
[6] “Dignity is, therefore, the soul of the African human rights system and which it shares with both the other systems and all civilized human societies. Dignity is consubstantial, intrinsic and inherent to the human person.” Communication 318/06 – Open Society Justice Initiative v. Côte d’Ivoire, para. 139.
[7] Bouyid v. Belgium, App. no. 23380/09, Judgment (Merits and Just Satisfaction) of 28 September 2015, para. 89 and para. 101.
[8] Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (2000/C 364/01).