Rights around the world

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was written in just 1600 words 71 years ago. Reaching an agreement in a new text that collected the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789) was a response to the brutality that had happened a few years earlier in the heart of Europe. This was a simple and obvious wish, but it was difficult to accomplish. It has been recurring in our history, but only then achieved such a successful agreement that has not been able to maintain in its subsequent implementation.

The 36th edition of the Summer University of Gandia is committed to raise awareness about the rights and freedoms that have been proclaimed, focusing in some parts of a whole that cannot be divided. The globalised world has just started but it is unstoppable. The rights are often seen as opposed sections among different groups. This is the reason why their range and consequences are manipulated in order to accomplish certain political, economic and even cultural goals. Raising awareness about the future of the planet might be the most universal right as it may result in the total dignity of the people.

Since the first circumnavigation of the planet to the approval of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, only 429 years had passed. In the meantime, other worlds and cultures were found. Many of them are extinguished, but the immoral justification of the domain among peoples and individuals still prevails. In 2019, the Summer University of Gandia of the Universitat de València suggested a new look to this complex reality because it is necessary to update individual and community rights to achieve a fair and sustainable future.

Jorge Hermosilla Pla. Vice-principal of Territorial Projection and Society

J. Emili Aura Tortosa. Director of the Centre of Gandia UV