NEWS: MIF supports Hafsah Aneela Bashir in her response to Article 25 of Human Rights Act.

MIF SUPPORTS MANCHESTER POET HAFSAH ANEELA BASHIR IN POETIC RESPONSE TO ARTICLE 25 OF THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS.

Manchester International Festival (MIF) and arts organisations across the UK commission more than 30 poets to write and record poems for Fly The Flag 2020 - a unique collaboration between arts organisations and human rights charities.

MIF has commissioned Manchester-based poet, playwright and performer Hafsah Aneela Bashir to write and record a poem in response to Article 25 – the right to food, shelter, healthcare, social services and security.

   

Hafsah’s poem, The Flag I Fly For You, premiered at an online poetry reading on Wednesday 9 December with Manchester’s 24-hour Islamic Radio Station, Heritage Radio, and is launched today on World Human Rights Day (10 December 2020) as a video recording alongside 33 commissioned poems by artists across the UK. Visit flytheflag.org.uk.

    

Other organisations taking part include; Coventry City of Culture 2021, Edinburgh International Festival, Fuel, Emergency Exit Arts, Roundhouse, Sadler's Wells and Young Vic - commissioning poets such as Keisha Thompson, Inua Ellams, Matt Abbott, Haris Ahmed, Amina Jama, Yomi Sode and Jolade Olusanya. 

Hafsah Aneela Bashir said: "It’s important for me to be involved in Fly The Flag because I passionately believe in an individual’s right to be seen, heard and valued fully. To feel safe, free from fear and to live with dignity. As much as we are living in times of great discord, the inherent beauty of our human story is one of strength, survival and unity. We must do more to recognise each other as the family we all belong to & uphold the same human rights for others that we’d want for ourselves."

Launched in 2018 on the 70th anniversary of the ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Fly The Flag is a reminder of the human rights we are all entitled to, in particular raising awareness of the UDHR amongst young people and shining a light where human rights are violated.

Artist and activist Ai Weiwei was commissioned in 2018 to design a flag which was launched in 2019 at Somerset House and displayed by hundreds of arts organisations, schools and charities across the UK.

   

This year the campaign moves online as it focuses on Article 25, the right to food, shelter, healthcare, social services and security. It is essential that the campaign this year not only celebrates the inspiring work taking place in communities but also draws attention to places where our human rights are being threatened.  

   

Fly The Flag 2020 builds on two years of activity, and propels the project towards the 75^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 2023.

ARTICLE 25     

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well- being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.