This year marks the 50th anniversary of core international human rights treaties – the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

The ICCPR enshrines the international rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in articles 21 and 22, respectively. The ICESCR, protects the right to form trade unions and to strike. Together, these instruments create the legal backbone of the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur’s on the rights of freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

Through art, social media, and celebrations, the office of the UNSR on the rights of freedom of peaceful assembly and association is launching a campaign called #FOAAat50 to highlight the immense global importance and impact of these universal rights.

As UN Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai stated before the UN General Assembly in 2014, “the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association satisfy people’s fundamental desire to take control of their own destinies. And I emphasize that these rights are indeed fundamental – not simply because they are inscribed in the law, but because they speak to something present inside each and every one of us as human beings.” Maina Kiai is also a member of the World Movement Steering Committee.

Find out how you can create, celebrate, and share what the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association mean to you.