UN vows to help Somalia promote human rights

Mogadishu, Dec 11 (IANS) The United Nations has reaffirmed its resolute support to Somalia in the full realisation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Somalia, Catriona Laing, said on Sunday that Somalia is at a crucial stage of development focused on achieving its vision of an inclusive, peaceful and stable Somalia based firmly on human rights, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The principles and values of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are as relevant today as they were when the document was first drafted," Laing said in a statement issued in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, to mark both Human Rights Day and the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Human Rights Day is observed by the international community every year on December 10. It commemorates the day in 1948 when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.