Universal Declaration of Human Rights Wikipedia

America was founded on an idea — that every person is created equal and deserves to be treated equally throughout their lives. And 76 years ago today, after the wreckage of 2 world wars and the Holocaust, the United States joined countries around the globe to enshrine this idea into a Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We also helped establish the United Nations, upholding the inherent dignity of every person on the world stage and establishing a rules-based international order. When crises erupt, we protect civilians from mass atrocities, promote accountability for those responsible for human rights violations and abuses, seek to free political prisoners, and create space for civilian dialogue. This year, we also recognize another landmark achievement in the global fight for human rights with the 40th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

More generally, a political constitution can be seen as amulti-leveled structure of rights that distributes authority overrules of conduct in a distinctive way. A democratic constitution, forexample, may give voters the power to elect legislators, who havecertain powers to enact laws, which the judiciary has certain powersto interpret, and the police have certain powers to enforce, leavingcertain courses of conduct open as legal for citizens to pursue. Thefacts about who should be free to do what within any legal orpolitical system, as well as the facts about who should be free fromwhich actions and conditions, can be represented as a complex, layeredstructure of rights. Thesedebates are sometimes framed in terms of when “the concept of aright” emerged.

Constitutional Amendments Simplified

Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during the marriage, and at its dissolution. Marriage shall the line be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.

With UNDP’s support, countries are strengthening environmental laws, involving communities in decision-making, and addressing ecological damage. Communities protect their natural resources and promote a sustainable future. We stand today at the threshold of a great event both in the life of the United Nations and in the life of mankind. This Universal Declaration of Human Rights may well become the international Magna Carta of all men everywhere. This article was written with the intent of helping you to better understand these basic rights that were drafted and signed generations ago. If you want to find out more about what Human Rights looks like in action, The Hague Peace Projects is a good place to start.

Learn more about the Convention on the Rights of the Child

Moreover, the scholarlydebate has sometimes accepted over-optimistic assumptions about thesharpness of conceptual boundaries. It canaccept as rights both unwaivable rights (the possession of which maybe good for their holders) and the rights of incompetents (who haveinterests that rights can protect). The interest theory also taps intothe deeply plausible connection between holding rights and beingbetter off. A naval captain has an active privilege-right to walk the decks and anactive power-right to order that the ship set sail.

They are rather, in Nozick’s phrase, sideconstraints on the pursuit of good consequences. (Nozick 1974,29) A status approach frowns on any rights violation, even for thesake of maximizing the non-violation of rights overall (as in a“utilitarianism of rights”). Such an approach emphasizesthe “agent-relative” reasons that each person has to avoidviolating the rights of others. Quinn claims that there is some attribute of the person—here,being “an individual with ends of his own”—thatmerits recognition from others. The recognition that is due to eachindividual can be accorded to that individual by respecting hisfundamental rights. There are two leading philosophical approaches to explaining whichfundamental rights of conduct there are, and why these rights shouldbe respected.

The doctrine ofinternational human rights—the modern cousin of eighteenthcentury natural rights theory—ascribes several significantrights to groups. The international Convention against Genocide, forexample, forbids actions intending to destroy any national, ethnic,racial or religious group; and both of the human rights Covenantsascribe to peoples the right to self-determination. Such examples showthat the language of rights is not individualistic in its essence. In giving our approval to the declaration today, it is of primary importance that we keep clearly in mind the basic character of the document. It is not and does not purport to be a statement of law or of legal obligation. It is a declaration of basic principles of human rights and freedoms, to be stamped with the approval of the General Assembly by formal vote of its members, and to serve as a common standard of achievement for all peoples of all nations.

For Mill, as for other instrumental theorists, rights are atool for producing an optimal distribution of interests across somegroup. Whether civil, political, economic, social or cultural in nature, they are all inherent to the dignity of every human person. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a document that acts like a global road map for freedom and equality – protecting the rights of every individual, everywhere. It was the first time countries agreed on the freedoms and rights that deserve universal protection in order for every individual to live their lives freely, equ­­ally and in dignity.

The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State. In addition to treaties, the United Nations has adopted various declarations, principles and guidelines to refine the meaning of particular rights. Various international institutions are responsible for interpreting human rights treaties and monitoring compliance, such as the UN Human Rights Committee and UN special rapporteurs who work on specific issues and countries. Corporations and international financial institutions, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, have a duty to avoid complicity in human rights abuses.