On December 10, 2015, Equipop co-organized a conference at the town hall of Paris's 2nd arrondissement to celebrate the "last Human Rights Day" and the advent of "human rights."
A brief look back at previous events
From the outset, Equipop has been part of the "Human Rights for All" collective, created by civil society actors at the end of 2014 to persuade French institutions to abandon the expression "droits de l'Homme" (rights of man) and replace it with "droits humains" (human rights). In the first few months of the campaign, 70 associations and 50 public figures joined the collective's appeal. This initial advocacy phase culminated in a conference in May 2015. Since then, there have been a few shifts on the part of the public authorities, which may lead to changes in language here and there, but there has been no official response or assurance of change in favor of "human rights." It is for this reason that the second phase of the campaign was launched.
Since early December, the collective's appeal has also been able to count on significant new support from Coordination SUD, which brings together six NGO collectives and, above all, 150 member NGOs. Support is therefore growing today, well beyond civil society alone.
Supporters who stand up for themselves
The conference on December 10 brought together more than 70 people at the town hall of Paris's 2nd arrondissement. Hosted by Marguerite Bannwarth, our project manager, this conference was an opportunity to give a voice to those individuals and institutions now involved in promoting human rights. Among others, Yvette Roudy, the first Minister for Women's Rights, presented a history of the fight she has led throughout her career. The High Council for Equality, represented by Marie-Annick Bourdin, reaffirmed its support, highlighting the importance of words in gender equality. Finally, Patric Jean, director and co-founder of Zéromacho, emphasized the role of language in "highlighting what [...] is lacking in reality."
Early successes
After this general commitment by the speakers in favor of human rights, everyone concluded with the symbolic request that December 10 should no longer be known as "International Human Rights Day," but rather "International Human Rights Day," starting in 2016! Things can change, as one of the deputy mayors of Paris, Hélène Bidard, told us. In June 2015, together with Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, they took the decision to officially change the name of the "human rights delegation" to "human rights." Catherine Coutelle, president of the National Assembly's Delegation for Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities for Men and Women, has also assured that she will "take up the torch in 2016."
