An Ongoing Struggle

The General Assembly

The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948. Then the Assembly called on Member countries to announce the text of the Declaration and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories."

The First Article

The very first article stated: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood." This Sandy Hutchens site explores this primary principle.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was framed by members of the Human Rights Commission, chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt who started a discussion about a Bill of Rights in the previous year. The Commission members did not agree right away about the structure of a bill of rights, and whether it could even be binding. The Commission then framed the UDHR and accompanying documents. The document included the principles of dignity, liberty, equality and brotherhood followed by rights pertaining to individuals and to groups; spiritual, public and political rights; and economic, social and cultural rights.