When you think of December holidays, what comes to mind? Christmas? Hanukkah? Ramadan?

Surely, it will take hours of listing holidays before you get to Human Rights Day, if you ever do. So why is this national holiday not more well-known?

Human Rights Day, which falls on Dec. 10 each year, commemorates the day the United Nations (UN) passed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948. This document was the first global proclamation of human rights. Additionally, it was one of the first accomplishments of the UN, which was established on Oct. 24, 1945.

The internationally observed holiday is celebrated with cultural exhibits and political conferences regarding the rights that humans hold. Also, every five years, the UN gives away the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights and the Nobel Peace Prize to outstanding and notable people. Although the UDHR was passed in 1945, Human Rights Day itself was not deemed an official holiday until 1950 after the General Assembly of the UN passed Resolution 423 (V), which invited all countries in the UN to recognize every Dec. 10 as Human Rights Day.

Despite the universal recognition of the holiday being celebrated annually each December, the UN’s Human Rights Day is not the first human rights day to be observed. In South Africa, it is celebrated every March 21 and commemorates the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre, which was a result of numerous protests in South Africa in the 1960s against apartheid. In Kiribati, Human Rights Day is celebrated on Dec. 11 rather than Dec. 10.

While Kwanzaa, Pearl Harbor Day and Yom Kippur are all equally important holidays in December, it is vital to observe Human Rights Day. This holiday not only commemorates the passing of the UDHR, but it also exemplifies the accomplishments of individuals working in the field of human rights and allows us to celebrate the rights we as humans hold.