– My hope for the next year is that we live our lives, individually and collectively, in such a way that we treat each other with kindness, empathy and friendliness, Türk says in a statement the eve of New Year’s Eve.

He also urges people to respectfully disagree:

– When it comes to how we behave online, I hope we can feel free to speak up knowing that we are protected from hate and misinformation. That we are thoughtful when we share our opinions and think of the person on the other side of the screen, he says.

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Call to Musk

Türk – who took office as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in October this year – is also taking a hard line against what he sees as demeaning identity politics, where people are labeled and boxed based on group membership.

– I hope we can disagree with respect and embrace diversity. There is no place to dehumanize the other by using reductive labels or identity politics, says Türk.

Türk – who is from Austria and worked in the United Nations system for many years – also warned against the spread of hate speech online. One of his first actions as UN human rights chief was to call on Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, to make respect for human rights a central guiding principle on the social platform.

On Tuesday this week, he called on the Taliban to immediately lift the ban on women working in non-governmental organizations, while condemning a policy that leads to the social and economic exclusion of half of the Afghan population.

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– Respond to injustice

– in 2024, we must ensure that women’s rights are respected at home and in public, that women and girls are fully equal and free from discrimination, says Türk, who also strikes a blow for the environmental campaign .

– To guarantee the rights of current and future generations, let us treat our planet with the kindness and humility it deserves, he says.

Finally, he asks people to react when an injustice is done to others.

– As we approach the 75th anniversary of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights next year, let us strive to make the world more dignified, a world where everyone’s rights are respected, he says .

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