human rights meditations: week 23

Whistle While You Work: Art Print by Aura Bowman
Available via etsy

Welcome to Week 23 of Human Rights Meditations. Each week we’re looking at an Article in the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Learn more about the series here. This series is way more about the time that you spend reflecting, and engaging in the discussion via comments below & twitter (hash tag #hrmlak).

This week we’re looking at Article 23 of the UDHR.

Article 23: (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. (2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. (3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection. (4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Read over the article above a few times and let it sink in (this is a long one, so you may want to break it up as you reflect). As you reflect, consider the following:

·          What's the first picture that came to your mind?

·          How did you respond to what you read?

·          Reflect how you feel about yourself in comparison to others.

·          Reflect on how you perceive others in your world. 

·          Reflect on your understanding of global issues.

Write the article down and stick it somewhere where you know you'll see it throughout the week. This will prompt you to keep the thinking going! Alternatively, write down something that has stood out to you throughout this meditation.  

Now, get talking! Let's talk openly about our thoughts on each article, what we're learning about ourselves and some of the actions we're taking to live more in line with the Declaration. Don't forget that as well as chatting via the comments below, you can get talking via twitter by including this tag: #hrmlak

I'll go first:

• In a society where we spend so much of our time whining about our jobs, it's an interesting concept that being able to work is a right. 
• I forget the huge movements that have taken place for women and other minority groups to have the same rights to work and negotiate employment as men and those from dominant cultures. 
• I forget the giant role that unions have played in promoting these rights and I forget those that have been victimized for promoting these rights. 
• I forget that it is my right to work, my right to choose where I work and what I do. 
• I forget that it is not only my right, but my responsibility to work safely and promote safe and supportive work environments for others. 

Kate xx

PS: Thanks to Aura Bowman for supporting this series and sharing her cute print with us today. You can check out more of Aura's work via etsy.