“December 10 marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a single short document of 30 articles that has probably had more impact on mankind than any other document in modern history. Immediately after the end of World War II, the world’s politicians, diplomats, journalists, activists, thinkers, and above all its general population wanted to prevent such a war happening again, which meant tackling its causes as well as its
aftermath. They were determined to ensure that there would never be another
Holocaust, and that everyone – especially the poor, the hungry, the displaced and the marginalized – would in future have systems to support them, and
international legal frameworks to protect them. Many of the world’s most impressive legal treaties and institutions, including the United Nations itself, date back to this fertile period in the late 1940s, but the Universal Declaration has a truly special place. For the first time all human rights – civil, cultural, economic, political and social were recognized as belonging inherently to all people, rather than being gifts magnanimously bestowed upon them, or denied to them, by design, fate or the whims of ruling regimes. Its visionary, but also thoroughly fundamental, approach is best illustrated by its own words: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and right. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person… All are equal before the law.” It then lays out a list of specific rights, ranging from the rights not to be tortured, enslaved or arbitrarily detained, via the rights to freedom of opinion, expression and religion to a range of key social, economic and cultural rights, such as education, health, and the right to equal pay for equal work.
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Publisher:
UNOHCHR
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(2008
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Type / Script:
Press Release
in English
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Keywords:
SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, CULTURAL, EQUAL WORK, EQUAL PAY, CIVIL SOCIETY, CIVIL RIGHT, TORTURED, ENSLAVED, FUNDAMENTAL APPROACH, JOURNALISM, DIPLOMATS, POLITICIANS, MANKIND, GENERAL POPULATION, DETAINED, ARBITARY, FREEDOM OF OPINION, EDUCATION, HEALTH, RIGHT TO LIFE, LIBERTY, SECURITY, SAFETY, LAW AND ORDER, ALL ARE EQUAL, LAW AND REGULATIONS, HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION, UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS, HUMAN RIGHTS
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Thematic Group:
UNOHCHR
:
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
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Thesaurus:
14.02.02
- Human Rights
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Reference Link:
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