Presidential Documents

86257 

Federal Register 

Vol. 88, No. 238 

Wednesday, December 13, 2023 

Title 3— 

The President 

Proclamation 10684 of December 8, 2023 

Human Rights Day and Human Rights Week, 2023 

By the President of the United States of America 

A Proclamation 

Seventy-five years ago, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights captured 

a remarkable act of collective hope. Drafted by a committee representing 

different regions, faiths, and philosophies and adopted by the United Nations 

General Assembly, the rights enumerated in the declaration are universal 

and enduring. On Human Rights Day and during Human Rights Week, 

we reaffirm our commitment to upholding the equal and inalienable rights 

of all. 

The United States was founded on an idea, at once the simplest and the 

most powerful idea in the history of the world: that we are all created 

equal and endowed with certain inalienable rights. Generations later, in 

the wake of World War II and the Holocaust, the United States joined 

countries around the world to create the United Nations and enshrine that 

same idea in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

Today, the United States—together with our partners and allies—continues 

to defend fundamental freedoms and human rights wherever they are under 

threat. We stand with people everywhere defending their rights against 

the forces of autocracy—demonstrating to the world that the flame of liberty 

still lights the souls of free people everywhere. 

This year, we also affirmed our commitment to democratic renewal globally 

at the second Summit for Democracy, bringing together nearly 100 government leaders and hundreds of representatives from civil society and the 

private sector as well as journalists, technologists, and youth leaders from 

around the world. The Summit galvanized progress to protect human rights, 

bolster democratic reforms, fight corruption, support free and independent 

media, advance technology that works for democracy, combat the misuse 

of technology, and defend free and fair elections and political processes. 

I have often said that one of America’s greatest strengths is that we lead 

not by the example of our power but by the power of our example. We 

are strongest in the world when we live by our values at home, and we 

must never cease working to uphold the dignity and protect the rights 

of every person in this country and promote protection of those same rights 

globally. That is why my Administration has established the White House 

Gender Policy Council, which works to ensure women and girls enjoy equal 

rights and equal participation in society by advancing the women, peace 

and security agenda, preventing and responding to gender-based violence, 

and more. We have worked to strengthen civil rights for LGBTQI+ people 

at home and around the world and to protect same-sex marriage. We have 

led an intensive effort to counter the proliferation and misuse of commercial 

spyware that has enabled human rights abuses around the world. We are 

working to address systemic racism, advance racial equity, bolster support 

for underserved communities throughout the Federal Government, address 

inequities in our law enforcement and criminal justice systems, and expand 

accessibility for people with disabilities. As we look at today’s global challenges online and offline, from conflict, democratic backsliding, and global 

pandemics to misinformation, the misuse of technology, the climate crisis, 

and food insecurity, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a bedrock 


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86258 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 238 / Wednesday, December 13, 2023 / Presidential Documents 

upon which we must tackle these issues and promote the full enjoyment 

of all human rights. 

Today, as we celebrate Human Rights Day, the start of Human Rights Week, 

and the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 

may we all recommit to securing the equal rights of every member of 

the human family and working together for the advancement of all humankind. Together, we can—and we will—bend the arc of history toward a 

freer and more just world for all. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States 

of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution 

and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim December 10, 2023, 

as Human Rights Day and the week beginning December 10, 2023, as Human 

Rights Week. I call upon the people of the United States to mark these 

observances with appropriate ceremonies and activities. 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day 

of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-three, and of 

the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 

forty-eighth. 

[FR Doc. 2023–27485 

Filed 12–12–23; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3395–F4–P 


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