Universal Declaration of Human Rights

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Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Excerpt from "Universal Declaration of Human Rights"

Published on the United Nations Web site http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html

Forty-eight member states (nations) of the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948. In adopting the Declaration those forty-eight nations affirmed their belief that "recognition of the … dignity … of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world…."

The United Nations (UN) was established following World War II (1939–45) in June 1945 with fifty member states. Its purpose is to promote world peace through assuring security and human rights for all the world's people. By 1948, the UN had a total of fifty-eight member states. The Declaration was the first document adopted by an international organization and meant to apply universally to all nations and people of the world. Although the member states varied significantly in their political and economic systems, and culturally, the Declaration represented a common vision of and goals for the world community. For more than half a century, the Declaration has affected the lives of people worldwide and remains as powerful, perhaps even more powerful, a document in the early twenty-first century as it was in the mid-twentieth century.

"Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status."

The Declaration is not a statement merely written with beautiful, hopeful words but little substance. Instead, it states specific detailed fundamental human rights in thirty articles (sections). Many of these articles recall words of the U.S. Declaration of Independence written in 1776 and the U.S. Constitution written in 1787. The articles state: that humans are born free and equal with regard to dignity and rights; that everyone has the right to "life, liberty and security"; the right to equal protection under the law, innocent until proven guilty, the right to come before a competent court of law; freedom of religion, speech, and thought; and freedom of assembly and association. The articles state that humans have rights in very practical day-to-day matters: freedom of movement and residence; right to own property; marriage rights; right to vote; right to employment, to freely choose that employment, and to receive appropriate pay; right to an adequate standard of living; and the right at minimum to an elementary education.

Writing the Declaration

The UN created in 1946 the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, made up of eighteen member states. That commission then chose a committee of eight persons to draft the Declaration, their first item of business. The eight individuals were from Australia, Chile, China, France, Lebanon, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), the United Kingdom, and the United States. The member from the United States was Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1965), wife of the recently deceased U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt was appointed lead of the Human Rights Commission, and chief writer of the Declaration. Mrs. Roosevelt would later comment on many occasions that drafting the Declaration was her life's proudest achievement.

Mrs. Roosevelt clearly and precisely guided the two-year process of writing the Declaration. As related by Sondra Myers in her 2002 book The Democracy Reader, Mrs. Roosevelt's often quoted question she presented to the committee was, "Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home—so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; they neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination."

The following document is the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" in its entirety. In creating this document Roosevelt and her committee address the rights of humans that are required in their everyday lives.

Things to remember while reading the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights":

Since its founding, the United Nations' central principle has been protection and furthering of human rights for men, women, and children alike.
Universal means "covering all."

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What happened next …

Although not legally binding itself, the Declaration became the basis for numerous human rights documents and treaties that are legally binding on nations. Its principles of political, legal, economic, and social rights have been included in the constitutions of newly established nations, in laws of nations, and adopted into international organizations.

Throughout the last half of the twentieth century, the UN established numerous avenues to monitor human rights in nations and investigate charges of abuse. UN special representatives, experts, and appointed committees traveled to nations for monitoring, promotion, and for education on human rights issues. When requested by governments, the UN has opened offices within a country to protect and further explain and promote human rights. However the UN recognizes that discrimination against ethnic groups, religious and gender discrimination, and even genocide still occur within the world community. Further, too many people continue to live in dire poverty with little dignity.

Did you know …

The Declaration has been translated into over two hundred languages.
The forty-eight member states that adopted the Declaration in 1948 were Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Iceland, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Liberia, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Siam (Thailand), Sweden, Syria, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
In 1948, eight member states abstained from voting (did not vote) on the Declaration and therefore did not adopt its principles. They were Byelorussia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Union of South Africa, USSR, and Yugoslavia. Two member states were not present when the vote was taken.

Consider the following …

Choose one of the countries that failed to adopt the Declaration in 1948. What was its approach to and promotion or lack of promotion of human rights in the second half of the twentieth century?
The principles for which Eleanor Roosevelt stood made her the perfect leader of the committee that wrote the Declaration. Research her life. Discover and report on some of those principles.
At the start of the twenty-first century have most people of the world achieved freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want? Where has the goal been realized? Where has it not been realized?
How many member states (nations) belong to the United Nations at the start of the twenty-first century? Find out how many have adopted the Declaration.