The world celebrates the Zero Discrimination Day on the 1st of march every year. It aims to combat all forms of discrimination. This year is dedicated to women and girls in collaboration with the UNAIDS, that is leading the global effort to end AIDS. This day was created by the United Nation in 2014 after UNAIDS launched its Zero Discrimination Campaign in December 2013 and is now celebrated throughout the world.
There are many laws at the national and international level that condemn discrimination but most of the time that’s not good enough and this problem always affects thousands of people in the world. Discrimination can be present in many aspects of daily life: at work, at school, in administration, in access to accommodation, education or when looking for a job. Discrimination can be informal or cemented into national laws.
Being discriminated against means that you are considered as counting for less than another because of who you are or because of what you believe. At the present time we count 76 countries where homosexuality is illegal and sometimes is punishable by death. A lot of places where people are persecuted because of their beliefs; in China with the Uighur, in India with Muslims, in Sudan, Madagascar and they are just a few examples. Women's rights also still have a lot to do to win the same rights as men : the right to drive (Saudi Arabia), the right to get married or not, to divorce and remarry, to go to school, to earn the same salary as men for the same work … And in too many countries people are still discriminated against because of their skin color, preventing them from living with dignity, from being heard and listened as they should be.
All these injustices cause damage to people because they attack what they are. Let’s stop being afraid of the difference and learn to respect everyone for who they are. There are still a lot of things to do but let’s start with ourselves and our direct environment. Let’s be attentive in our families, in our group of friends and in our daily life because change starts in the little things.