Unisa online - Celebrate Human Rights Day on 21 March

The United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on 21 March, and this coincides with Human Rights Day in South Africa.

By becoming a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), Unisa made a public commitment to align its daily operations to the UNGC principles. The field of human rights is one of the focal areas of the UNGC: the principles state
that "businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights" (principle 1) and "should make sure they are not complicit in human rights abuses" (principle 2).

The theme of human rights not only overlaps with the remaining three focus areas, namely labour standards, the environment and anti-corruption, but actually forms the foundation of all the principles. Furthermore, human rights permeate throughout the United Nations’ declaration of three special observances for 2010. This first year of the new decade has been declared the "International Year of Biodiversity; the International year of Rapprochement of Cultures and the International year for Youth: Dialogue and Mutual Understanding". The theme of biodiversity focuses on the value of biodiversity in life as the world is urged to take action in 2010 to safeguard the variety of life on earth. The second theme recommends that interreligious and intercultural dialogue, understanding and cooperation for peace be undertaken in an effort to establish harmonious relations. By dedicating the year to young people, the United Nations aims to encourage dialogue and understanding across generations, and to encourage young people to strive to achieve the objectives of progress and development, including the Millennium Development Goals.

Unisa's vision and mission statements broadly embrace all ten principles of the UNGC, placing emphasis on its social responsibility not only through its inspiring vision, but also in striving towards embracing the core values of social justice and fairness, and excellence with integrity.