Published by YWCA Aotearoa New Zealand National Board

Every year on the 10th of December, the world marks International Human Rights Day in recognition of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This is an enduring reminder that dignity, safety, and freedom belong to all people. As part of a global movement active in more than 100 countries, YWCA Aotearoa New Zealand joins others around the world in reaffirming our commitment to protecting and advancing the rights of women, young people, and gender-diverse communities.

In Aotearoa, Human Rights Day invites us to reflect on how well we uphold these principles at home.

We recognise the ongoing work required to ensure equity, justice, and wellbeing for Māori, Pacific peoples, migrants, rangatahi, women, and gender-diverse individuals. While Aotearoa is often seen as a leader in human rights, we continue to see inequities in safety, housing, access to justice, digital harm, economic security, and participation in public life. These issues disproportionately affect young women and marginalised communities.

Around the world, entrenched human rights violations continue to shape the lives of women, children, and Indigenous communities. Conflict, displacement, gender-based violence, state and non-state harm, and systemic discrimination have ongoing and devastating consequences. These global realities are felt here too, affecting our sense of safety, belonging, and collective wellbeing. As part of the World YWCA movement, we stand alongside our sister YWCAs who are responding to crises in their own communities and advocating for peace, liberation, and gender justice.

In Aotearoa, our commitment is grounded not only in global solidarity but in the lived realities of those we serve. Every day, YWCA staff, volunteers, board members, alumnae, and young leaders work to challenge inequity, amplify youth voice, support community wellbeing, and advocate for systems that uphold human rights in practice and not only in principle. Their leadership strengthens our movement and reinforces Aotearoa’s ongoing responsibility to uphold the rights of all who call this place home.

Human rights are not abstract ideals.

Human rights are lived conditions shaped by policy, culture, and collective action. On this Human Rights Day, we call on our communities, government, and partners to continue working toward a future where every young woman and gender-diverse person can live with dignity, safety, opportunity, and self-determination.

As a movement, we remain steadfast. When people’s rights and lives are threatened, whether in Aotearoa or abroad, we will raise our voices, stand in solidarity, and work toward a more just and equitable world.

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