Zero Discrimination Day 2022

Discrimination, according to the Lexicon, is defined as ‘the unfair treatment of different groups of people,especially based on ethnicity, age, sex, or disability. Every year, the first day of March is set aside to create awareness on various types of discrimination around the world. Different bodies and organisations such as the United Nations organise events and activities to mark the day and celebrate the rights that every human being has. This day is known as Zero Discrimination Day.

Background Of Zero Discrimination Day

Back in 2014, on the 1st of March, the first ever Zero Discrimination Day was held, and this event was announced by the UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibe. The aim of the day is to promote equality and diversity amongst people and to make them know that they matter and are not being judged because of the way they look or where they’re from.

Zero Discrimination Day 2022

This year, the theme for Zero Discrimination Day is ‘Remove laws that harm, create laws that empower’. While this may be applied to a country as a whole, this theme encompasses every aspect of our lives, including home, work, school and every other social aspect of our lives.

In different parts of the world, discrimination shows up in various forms, such as with racism or even colourism in some regions. Girls and women face discrimination in some places, in relation to work and opportunities, and this is why last year’s theme was ‘Zero Discrimination against Women and Girls.’

Zero Discrimination Day is significant on so many levels. It’s not merely a day to create awareness but it’s to prevent policies and situations that may be harmful and unfair to certain grous of people. There may be some policies that only benefit specific groups of people and give no advantages to other groups of people. Situations like this are why this year’s theme is focused on removing such laws that harm and instead. The focus should be on creating and implementing laws and policies that benefit and empower every person, regardless of who they are or where they come from.

It’s important to know that as much as the UN and other organisations play an important role in promoting Zero Discriminatin Day, we all have a role to play in our immediate societies and beyond. When in school or at work, we must endeavour to treat everyone with kindness and fairness. Fellow people shoudn’t be treated differently just because they look or speak different.

To quote Audre Lorde, “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.”