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Regional Desks
Sustaining
Women’s Organizations
Documentation,
Analysis, Dissemination
UN SCR 1325
March 8
May 24
November
25
December
10
Regional
and Intercontinental Consultations
(1997 – 2005)
December 10
– International Human Rights Day
Some facts about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
On December 10, 1948 Eleanor Roosevelt and delegates from over 80%
of United Nations
member states adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The
Declaration is the cornerstone of the modern human rights movement.
It sets forth the universal economic, social, civil and political
rights of every human being.
It measures how well human rights are respected and protected, and
it lights the path to a better world.
On Human Rights Day the fact that "All human beings are born
with equal and inalienable rights and fundamental freedoms" is
celebrated around the globe.
Human Rights Day is observed around the world by various entities
of the United Nations, governments, non-governmental organizations,
schools and universities, and by others interested in promoting human
rights.
Since 1998, the 50th anniversary of the ratification of the Universal
Declaration, people around the world have begun to recognize December
10 as International Human Rights Day.
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Painting by Helen Lurye
The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights:
- The most universal document in the world
The Office of the
High Commissioner for Human Rights has been awarded the Guinness
World Record for having collected, translated and disseminated the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights into more than 300 languages
and dialects: from Abkhaz to Zulu.
The Universal Declaration is thus the document most translated - indeed,
the most "universal" - in the world.
In the words of the (former) High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary
Robinson:
"This project bears a special symbolism. It immediately
brings to us a sense of the world's diversity; it is a rich tapestry
with so many different languages and peoples. But, at the same time,
it shows that all of us, in our different forms of expression, can
speak the "common language of humanity", the language of
human rights, which is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights."
For further information about the Office of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights, click
here >
To read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, click
here >
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