Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. ~ Preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
On this day in 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The document is the collective response of governments around the globe to the atrocities of World War II and to the admonition,
"Never Again."
In the aftermath of the Holocaust, which resulted in the systematic and state-sponsored murder of some 6 million European Jews along with 4 to 6 million people of non-Jewish descent who were targetted as enemies of the Nazi state; the deaths of an estimated 22 to 25 million allied military personnel, including deaths in captivity of about 5 million prisoners of war; the destruction by atom bomb of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which killed approximately 135,000 Japanese civilians; and as the Nuremburg Trials proceeded, the world came together to form the United Nations. The UDHR, a "Bill of Rights for All People," was the first order of business, taken up at the inaugural meeting of the General Assembly.
Given current events in our nation, the remembrance of International Human Rights Day has never been more timely and judicious. Affirming this year's theme of justice every day or "Human Rights 365," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon proclaims:
I call on States to honour their obligation to protect human rights every day of the year. I call on people to hold their governments to account.
Back in the day, America took the lead in the movement to create "a just and enduring peace" by hosting a series of foundational meetings in 1944, attended by representatives of Great Britain, China, USSR and the United States, at
Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, DC. The Conference on International Organization of the "United Nations" - a term coined by President Franklin D. Roosevelt - was later held in San Francisco to draft the UN Charter. 50 nations signed the Charter on October 24, 1945, with Poland signing later to join as one of 51 original UN member states.
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The historical perspective of UN founders remains relevant to America and the rest of the world today. On the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Eleanor Roosevelt, who headed the committee that drafted the document, said:
“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; the neighbourhood 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. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerned citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.”
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