On December 10, 1948, the General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). After World War II, the international community vowed to not allow such atrocities to ever occur again. The thirty articles of the UDHR guarantees fundamental rights, procedural law, and protection. . It recognizes that these basic human rights are inherent to all human beings.
Click here for the full text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Click here for the full text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
A Commission on Human Rights was made up with 18 members from all over the world with Eleanor Roosevelt as the leader. Rene Cassin of France composed the first draft of the declaration, but Eleanor Roosevelt was recognized as the driving power for the unanimous adoption of it. It is currently recognized by all 192 countries in the UN.
Image courtesy of: The National Archives |
The UDHR was the first major document to set the basis for international human rights. Translated in over 260 different languages, it has inspired more than eighty international human rights documents, which together form a large system for the promotion of human rights.
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Eleanor Roosevelt and the Formation of the UNDHR
Eleanor Roosevelt addresses the United Nations on the ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, She praises the document, calling it the "human Magna Carta,"
Image courtesy of: The United Nations Association of the USA
Image courtesy of: The United Nations Association of the USA