Human Rights Room @museum.de

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights“ – to quote the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And that’s regardless of race, sex or religion. The declaration was agreed by the United Nations on the 10th of December 1948 in Paris. The rights are designed to ensure the best possible protection for all human beings, here and now.

Here in the Human Rights Room – incidentally in what’s known as the “Kanzel” of the old community house – the museum examines the aspirations and the realities. Are human rights really the same for everyone? Let’s take a closer look.

Everyone is entitled to the rights without distinction. Article 2.

Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. Article 13.

The right to seek asylum. Article 14.

Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. Article 23.

The discussions we regularly have here with visitors, women as well as men, focus on the issues of fleeing, reasons for becoming a refugee and migration. We discuss the gender pay gap with equal passion – in other words, the difference in rates of pay or pensions between women and men.

The museum collects newspaper clippings relating to its main themes – you’ll find them lying on the table there. What do you think? Does the pay gap between men and women breach Article 23 of the Declaration of Human Rights? What about Germany’s current asylum policy, as compared to Article 14 – or is the country acting in accordance with people’s human rights?

Finally, we’d like to invite you to take part in a guessing game. It concerns the safety vests hanging in front of the windows. They represent the wide range of countries in which the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement operates. Try to spot the safety vests worn in, say, Columbia, Malaysia, Spain or the Netherlands. Which other countries can you identify?