United Nations, New York, 10 December 2011 - 2011 has been an extraordinary year for human rights. Millions of people took to the streets to demand change and to claim their rights. Many found their voices through social media - they used the internet and instant messaging to inform, inspire and mobilize supporters to seek the basic human rights to which we are all entitled. In her message for Human Rights Day, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, asks that we celebrate the universal rights that belong to us all and the power of social media to promote and protect them.

Human Rights Day is marked annually on 10 December, it commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN General Assembly in 1948.

Human Rights Day website:
http://www.un.org/en/events/humanrightsday

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) website:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Pages/WelcomePage.aspx