2019 theme

FREEDOM FROM FEAR

(One of the four fundamental freedoms that form the foundation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights )

The theme of the Maastricht Human Rights Prize in 2019 is the “freedom from fear”. This freedom is one of the four fundamental freedoms that form the foundation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948; the three other freedoms are the freedom of speech, the freedom of belief and the freedom from want. These four freedoms are referred to in the preamble of the Declaration and are further substantiated in the rights and freedoms that are enumerated in the articles 1-30 of the Declaration.

The freedom from fear is for example closely related to among others the right to live (article 3), the prohibition of torture (article 5), the right to equal protection of the law (article 7), the right to leave your country and to return thereto (article 13), the right to asylum (article 14), and also the right to peace and a clean environment which can be deduced from article 28.

The essence of the freedom from fear is that everyone is entitled to a future in which all human right can be realized. A future in which there will be no war, where the environment is clean, where poverty has been eliminated and where the inequality between states and individuals has been done away. That is the message of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We are looking forward to creative and inspiring contributions.

For more information visit www.mensenrechten.nl