Cartoonists mark Human Rights Day, shine a light on inequality

Issued on: 10/12/2021 – 17:44

As the world marks Human Rights Day on December 10, the UN this year highlights inequality and the fight against poverty as a central theme.

Human Rights Day is observed every year on December 10, marking the day the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

The landmark declaration proclaims that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. It also states that everyone – regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political views, national or social origin, property, birth or other status – is entitled to inalienable rights.

The principle of equality is at the heart of human rights. It sounds obvious on paper, but in reality, it’s a very different story.

The latest World Inequality Report, released earlier this week by the World Inequality Lab at the Paris School of Economics, found the wealth of the world’s billionaires soaring during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The gap between the rich and poor has widened, with the world’s richest 10 percent owning three quarters of global wealth. This trend has very serious political, economic, social and environmental consequences and constitutes, along with the climate crisis, one of the main challenges for humanity.

Born in 1970 in Trinidad, Cuba, Ramses Morales graduated from the Trinidad Academy of Arts in 1996. He works as a graphic designer and draws political cartoons and illustrations for the international press.

Morales currently lives in Switzerland and works as a freelance illustrator and painter. His work has been published in Courrier International (France), Nebelspalter (Switzerland), Spotsk (Denmark) and in the national press in Cuba. In February 2019, he received World Press Cartoon’s first prize in the category of editorial cartoon in Portugal.

Cartooning for Peace is an international network of cartoonists committed to promoting freedom of expression, human rights and mutual respect between people of different cultures and beliefs through the universality of press cartoons.