It is 50 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN). Developed in response to the atrocities of the Second World War, the UDHR represented a collective determination never to return to those dark days. It was an important milestone in a discourse that stretches back through thousands of years of human history: what are the qualities that make us human and what rights, obligations and responsibilities do these create in our relationships with each other?
The UDHR sets out the human rights which are fundamental to the dignity and development of every human being. These range from economic rights, such as the right to work and to an adequate standard of living, to political rights, such as freedom of opinion, expression and association.
They include civil rights, such as equality before the law, and social or cultural rights, such as the right to education and to participate in the cultural life of the community. The UDHR proclaims that all these rights belong to all people. In effect, the UDHR was a promise made by governments to work towards a world without cruelty and injustice; a world without hunger and ignorance. Fifty years after its proclamation, how far have governments lived up to that promise? To what extent have the rights set out in the UDHR become a reality throughout the world?
Much has been achieved in the last half century. Struggles against colonialism and apartheid have changed the map of the world. Mass movements against race and gender discrimination have transformed societies. The rights enshrined in the UDHR have become a rallying cry for human rights defenders and ordinary people throughout the world. They have been elaborated upon and codified in international human rights treaties and declarations, as well as many national constitutions and laws. They have provided a foundation for UN and regional initiatives to secure peace and to reduce poverty, combat illiteracy and safeguard health.
But for most people the rights in the UDHR are little more than a paper promise. A promise that has not been fulfilled for the 1.3 billion people who struggle to survive on less than us$1 a day; for the 35,000 children who die of malnutrition and preventable diseases every day; for the billion adults, most of them women, who cannot read or write; for the prisoners of conscience languishing in jails in every region of the world; or for the victims of torture in a third of the world’s countries.
– Excerpted with permission. Read the complete report online (www.amnesty.org). © Amnesty International Report 1998, ISBN 1-887204-13-X.
This issue of the DGH Reporter offers four articles that will give you a basic understanding of the Human Rights situation in the selected countries. Similar Human Rights Around the World reports will be published annually in our fall issue, focusing on different countries each time.
