What is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
It is an international document that states the basic rights and fundamental freedoms to which all human beings are entitled.
It was adopted in 1948 by the UN, the United Nations organization, just after the Second World War.
Traumatized by the horrors of war, the countries of the world wanted to put down on paper basic human rights.
The declaration of 1948 is inspired from former texts from several countries. For example, the 1789 French Declaration of human and citizens’ rights.
It comprises 30 articles defining the rights of all humans.
The first: “All human beings are born equal in dignity and rights.”
The Declaration protects human beings from injustice, and also slavery and torture.
Each person has the right to freedom of movement outside their own country and to express an opinion on any subject while respecting others. That’s freedom of speech.
Each of us has the right to go to school, to have a job and access to healthcare.
The Declaration states that the governments of each country must do everything to ensure these rights are possible and respected.
But this Declaration is not obligatory: it’s not a treaty signed by countries.
That is why it is important to uphold human rights everywhere.
The universal declaration of human rights is an ideal that nations and peoples have a moral commitment to aim for.