The Threads That Hold Us Together

International Human Rights Day 2025

On 10th December each year, we observe International Human Rights Day, marking the date the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in 1948. Human rights can sometimes feel like an abstract, distant idea; something reserved for world leaders and landmark moments, but most of us experience them in far quieter ways. They show up in how we treat one another, in the choices we make each day, and in those ordinary moments where we feel seen, respected and safe. 

This year’s theme ‘Our Everyday Essentials’, is a reminder that human rights are often at their most powerful when they’re almost invisible. Safety, work, education, fairness and belonging sit quietly beneath daily life for most people. They can easily be assumed; until something disrupts them. 

For people with lived experience of displacement, whether across borders or within their own country, these essentials can vanish overnight. Earning a living, participating in community life, or simply having choices becomes suddenly and sharply difficult.

Rebuilding a Life After Displacement

There is no single narrative of displacement; people are uprooted for many reasons, from conflict and persecution to environmental disaster to political instability. Some settle quickly in a new place, while others struggle navigating new structures and systems, often carrying an emotional load that outsiders don’t see.

What binds these varied journeys is a shared thread of rights: the right to seek safety, to rebuild, to contribute and to belong. When we uphold these rights collectively, communities become steadier, happier, healthier places.

People express their rights through many forms of participation. Within the Welcome Merchant community, this often appears through work, creativity and entrepreneurship. Starting a business can be a way to preserve culture, regain independence, build confidence or pave a new path. These contributions, whether through food, craft, art, ideas or skills, are gradually woven into the social and cultural fabric of the places where people settle.

But rebuilding doesn’t always look like this. Many choose to study, move into new professions, volunteer, raise families, join community groups or grow new friendships. These quiet steps carry just as much meaning. Each reflects agency and the shared belief that everyone deserves the chance to build a meaningful, self-directed life.

Where Rights Appear in Ordinary Moments

We often speak about human rights as if they live entirely in institutions and legal texts, yet they are most visible in the smaller details of daily life. A family settling into stable housing. A learner finishing a course in a new language. A worker being paid fairly. A business owner sharing a dish from home with customers who are curious and open. Someone finally feeling steady enough to plan for the future.

For those who have known instability, these are not small achievements: they mark the restoration of rights that were interrupted, sometimes for years.

We all play an essential part in realising human rights. They take shape when workplaces hire inclusively, when neighbours make room for difference, when people stay curious about cultures beyond their own, when discrimination is challenged rather than left alone, and when small businesses are supported.

Carrying the Reminder

International Human Rights Day is a reminder that human rights don’t come alive through declarations alone: they are enacted in the decisions we make each day.

For people who have experienced displacement, these rights are not theoretical. Many have come from places where safety, autonomy or expression were heavily restricted or stripped away altogether. 

In their new communities, displaced people continue to assert their rights in quiet, powerful ways: by studying, working, raising families, contributing skills, sharing culture and paving new futures on their own terms. These acts are not just personal milestones, they are expressions of human rights in motion, rights being exercised and expanded through everyday life.