15 November 2023 – Ahead of Human Rights Day on 10 December, the United Nations has partnered with French digital artist YAK (Yacine Ait Kaci) – whose illustrated character Elyx is the first digital ambassador of the United Nations – on an animated version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The 30 articles of the Declaration come to life through easy-to-follow and symbolic movements that correlate with a word or phrase from the article.
“Elyx expresses himself without any words. What Elyx does, anyone on the street can do, you can represent your life, your freedom, your protections before the law, and so on,” YAK.
Nanette Braun, Director of Campaigns at the UN Department for Global Communications, said: “We are delighted to have our digital ambassador Elyx on board as we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Declaration is as relevant as ever and Elyx helps us to connect and engage in particular younger audiences on human rights.”
Elyx is a universal ambassador for the United Nations. In addition to the intergenerational appeal of Elyx, who is stylized to look like a young child’s drawing, the digital ambassador has no race, age, nationality or gender.
Audiences can begin to expect social media posts with Elyx and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights starting from today, and throughout 2024.
This is the second time that the United Nations partnered with Elyx on human rights, following an illustrated version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 2014.
Background on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 (General Assembly resolution 217 A) as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected and it has been translated into over 500 languages. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is widely recognized as having inspired, and paved the way for, the adoption of more than seventy human rights treaties, applied today on a permanent basis at global and regional levels (all containing references to it in their preambles).
