Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The 1948 declaration of rights adopted by the new United Nations
Overview
Drafted after World War II by a committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt and adopted in Paris in December 1948, the declaration set out thirty articles of civil, political, economic, and social rights. Though not a treaty, it inspired two binding covenants of 1966 and is widely treated as customary law and the authoritative interpretation of the UN Charter's rights references. Its anniversary is Human Rights Day. It is the most translated document on earth. Eight abstentions marked the vote, none opposed, and the document now anchors most rights instruments.
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