Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Eleanor Roosevelt and UNs Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1949)

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration (something said in an important way) by the United Nations General Assembly. It talks about basic human rights -- rights that all people have just because they are human. It was adopted (agreed to) by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948.

The UDHR (initialism for Universal Declaration of Human Rights) is translated into over 300 languages. This is more languages than any other document, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

Important ideas

The UDHR may be broken into 30 parts or articles. Each article says one idea about human rights. Most people think these are the most important ideas:

• All people are born free and equal, because they have reason and conscience.
• Everyone has a right to life, liberty, and security of their person.
• Everyone should be protected from any kind of discrimination.
• Everyone has a right to have a nationality and change one's nationality.
• Everyone has a right to an education.
• Everyone has a right to get a job.
• Everyone has a right to vote and take part in the government of one's own country.
• Everyone has a right to take part in cultural life—to choose a way of life.
• No person may be tortured, or treated in a cruel or unkind way.
• Everyone has the right to seek and gain asylum from persecution.
• Everyone has a right to have ideas or opinions, to decide what is right and what is wrong, and to choose a religion.
• Everyone has a right to speak or write freely and right to join a peaceful group to express one's opinion.
• Everyone has a right to security if suffering unemployment, disease, disability, old age or loss of a partner.
• Everyone has duties to the community where one's personality can be developed freely.
• No one can abuse the rights to destroy the freedom or rights in this Declaration.

Criticism

The United Nations Human Development Report(UNHDR) has been criticised by different people. Mainly Islamic countries have pointed out that its understanding is mainly that of Christians or Jews. Muslims could not implement certain parts of the declaration, without trespassing Islamic law. On 30 June 2000, Muslim nations that are members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference officially resolved to support the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, an alternative document that says people have "freedom and right to a dignified life in accordance with the Islamic Shari’ah".

Certain Libertarians have stated that some of the positive rights must be implemented by force: Few people will study for years, to become a doctor, if they cannot charge a fee for treating patients; but that patients expect to be treated for free.

Other websites

• Text of the UDHR at the United Nations website explained in Plain English
• Text of the UDHR at the United Nations website