Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Poets perform work celebrating human rights declaration

Anthony Anaxagorou is among those taking part (Gareth James/Book Trust/PA)
Anthony Anaxagorou is among those taking part (Gareth James/Book Trust/PA)

More than 30 poets have been commissioned to read poems inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The poems focus on Article 25 of the declaration, which asserts the right to “a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family”.

It also states “motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance”.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations in 1948.

The initiative is being run by the Fly The Flag campaign, which is a collaboration between human rights charities and arts organisations.

Poets including Matt Abbott, Anthony Anaxagorou, Haris Ahmed and Casey Bailey are among those taking part.

Abbott said: “What disturbs me most about contemporary Britain is that certain abuses of human rights are entirely normalised and ignored.

Fly The Flag project
Ai Weiwei designed a human rights flag for the campaign in 2018 (David Parry/PA)

“We’ve all been conditioned to accept a system which makes them relatively common, without actually realising that they’re abusing human rights in the first place.

“As a poet, it means a lot to me to highlight these scenarios and hopefully inspire change.”

The poems are performed virtually and will appear online from Thursday, which is Human Rights Day.

Recordings of the performances will be sent to schools.

Anaxagorou said: “The project for me is in part a celebration of the progress we’ve made over the 70 years to ensure people around the world have access to basic human needs.

“That attention is being focused on the places which need it.

“But it also looks to highlight how much work is yet to be done, and the ways we need to come together as a singular movement if real, long-lasting change is to be achieved.”

In 2018, artist Ai Weiwei designed a flag for the Fly The Flag campaign to celebrate 70 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The poems are available at flytheflag.org.uk.