50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Curriculum Suggestions "The destiny of human rights is in the hands of all our citizens in all our communities." Eleanor Roosevelt
Back to Main Page The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), drafted by Eleanor Roosevelt and adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 10, 1948, is often considered to be the start of the modern human rights movement. On this the 50th anniversary of UDHR, please include instruction on this historic document and on human rights in general in your school’s curriculum.
The Preamble to the Declaration states that "the recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world…." The document lists and describes human rights, including:
Following is information that can be adapted for use as classroom material, including a short history of human rights and a copy of the Declaration. Please let me hear from you, either by mail or e-mail (addresses below), if you would like to discuss using the human rights curriculum in your school.
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights…." Article 1 "Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person." Article 3 "Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free…. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit." Article 26(1)
Thank you.
Sue Ann Lorig
Houston UDHR50 Curriculum Committee
PO Box 540204
Houston, TX 77254-0204
email: slorig@swbell.net
Why Human Rights Education? The United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004) has defined Human Rights Education as "training, dissemination, and information efforts aimed at the building of a universal culture of human rights through the imparting of knowledge and skills and the molding of attitudes which are directed to:
(a) The strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; (b) The full development of the human personality and the sense of its dignity; (c) The promotion of understanding, respect, gender equality, and friendship among all nations, indigenous peoples and racial, national, ethnic, religious and linguistic groups; (d) The enabling of all persons to participate effectively in a free society." Education for human rights also imparts responsibility for respecting and defending human rights and empowers us through building skills to take appropriate action. These skills for action include:
Human rights should be part of everyone’s education. However, certain groups have a particular need for human rights education: some because they are especially vulnerable to human rights abuses, others because they hold official positions and upholding human rights is their obligation, still others because of their ability to influence and educate.
· recognizing that human rights may be promoted and defended on an individual, collective, and institutional level · developing critical understanding of life situations · analyzing situations in moral terms · realizing that unjust situations can be improved · recognizing a personal and social stake in the defense of human rights · analyzing factors that cause human rights violations · knowing about and being able to use global, regional, national, and local human rights instruments and mechanisms for the protection of human rights · strategizing appropriate responses to injustice · acting to promote and defend human rights
Source: Nancy Flowers, Human Rights Educators’ Network, Amnesty International USA; and Kristi Rudelius-Palmer, Partners in Human Rights Education
Building New Perspectives A Short History of Human Rights Source: Sustainable America
The following history recounts how what began as a movement to codify the rights of an exclusive segment of white male society has been redefined, recreated and reconstituted into a worldwide movement to protect the social, cultural and economic rights of all humans. Sustainable America is a part of this ever-expanding effort to bring justice and freedom into the lives of all people, especially workers and those historically discriminated against.
What are human rights?
The Columbia Encyclopedia defines human rights as "universal rights held to belong to individuals by virtue of their being human, encompassing civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights and freedoms, and based on the notion of personal human dignity and worth." In January of 1997, while announcing the publication of the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1996, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright stated, "When human rights standards are observed, sustainable economic progress is more likely; violent conflicts are easier to prevent; terrorists and criminals find it harder to operate; and societies are more fully able to benefit from the skills and energy of their citizens." The importance of human rights has gotten the attention of global leaders and the general public. But what are human rights and how are their standards determined?
Today, rights are commonly defined much like the Columbia Encyclopedia defines human rights: "universal rights held to belong to individuals by virtue of their being human, encompassing civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights and freedoms, and based on the notion of personal human dignity and worth." The concept of rights is derived from many intertwined sources however, including political movements, advocacy movements and philosophical schools of thought.
There are two types of human rights that are incorporated into the various international treaties that make up today’s human rights conventions. Both types of rights were discussed by the people, philosophers and politicians of their time because they needed to articulate reasons for abolishing the abuse of power. The first are the human rights guaranteed by citizenship or membership. These are often related to governmental law and provide for the right to social security, labor standards, freedom of speech, etc. Other more fundamental and universal rights are derived from the concept of "natural rights" - the idea that every human has rights by virtue of being human. Many of these rights are meant to protect an individual’s right to liberty, religious choice, freedom of expression, etc., and are inalienable (i.e., can not be taken away even by laws or tradition because they are a part of the condition of being human).
Despite the clear elucidation of what human rights are in many treaties and documents and despite the fact that many governments have agreed to abide by them, human rights continue to be abused. Thus far, the problem with the human rights movement, at least as it relates to economic rights, is that the conventions have not resulted in significant action. Critical changes in government, the economy and society have not taken place.
As the concept of rights became a central principle in American Citizenship, groups that have been excluded from the benefits of a free society have spoken out. The following examples illustrate how the vision of Universal Rights has expanded.
African American Views
Expand the Vision and Other Rights
Movements are Sparked:
"Words like "freedom," "justice," "democracy" are not common concepts; on the contrary, they are rare. People are not born knowing what these are. It takes enormous and, above all, individual effort to arrive at the respect for other people that these words imply." James Baldwin, U.S. author on human rights, in "The Crusade of Indignation."
The on-going struggle for equity for African Americans brought new light to the concept of human rights and worker rights in America. When the Declaration of Independence was signed, the concept of Universal Human Rights was not incorporated. It took both civil war and civil disobedience to expand the rights of America’s people to include African Americans. Citizenship for African Americans, however, was only the first step in improving America’s vision of human rights.
In this century, activists and advocates for African American concerns brought the issue of civil rights and economic oppression to the American public via the civil rights movement. With a great deal of clarity and power the civil rights movement challenged human rights abuses in this affluent democracy. It showed how, beyond the end of the slave trade and the extension of citizenship, American society was not maintaining and protecting the rights of all its citizens adequately.
In July of 1964 President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law. By doing so the U.S. government affirmed its need to renew the concept of rights, to be more inclusive, and to create a "more perfect union." Since that time, African Americans have had to continue to protest and maintain vigilance in order to protect their rights and make those who abuse power and maintain inequality accountable to others.
In 1966, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. placed a note on the door of the Chicago City Hall. In it he foretold how not only basic human rights, but the economic rights of all Americans, would need to be safe-guarded before we could call ourselves a real democracy. His note demanded living wages, housing, an end to bank discrimination, fair representation of Blacks in unions and business and the inclusion of community organizations in the programs of the Office of Economic Opportunity.
In addition, the momentum of the Civil Rights movement sparked the development of the modern women’s rights movement. Seeking equity in wages, education and opportunity, this movement also brought the issue of sustainable economic development to the forefront. Demanding that sexual orientation not be used to discriminate, the gay and lesbian rights movements in similar ways made significant contributions to our vision of human rights. Together they demanded more accountability to the concerns of the whole community. Newer immigrants to the U.S. continue in this tradition.
The Experience of Native Peoples:
Since the colonization of the Americas, native people in this country have been subjected to rights abuses. Economically, traditional Native American subsistence economies have been diminished through the introduction of market values (such as production based on profit rather than on need), new polluting technologies and mismanagement of land and natural resources. For example, Native Americans in many communities have been denied the right to traditional fishing in local waters because of the overall ban on fishing necessitated by the depletion of stocks. The fish scarcity is not due to traditional harvesting, however; it is due to the over-fishing of commercial and sport fishermen.
The development of modern industry has threatened the cultural rights of Native Americans by building over and destroying sacred lands. Native American workers and communities have had to fight for their traditional ways of development for centuries. Many individuals have been driven from their traditional homes due to housing shortages, lack of opportunity and environmental degradation. This has caused a dependence on welfare and other services. The government’s use of racial categorization and quantifying the "Indian blood" of individuals has caused discrimination in the distribution of benefits to native communities.
Sustainable America members who work on native rights, such as the Hopi Foundation, are addressing the cultural rights of their communities and the improvement of local economies.
Environmental Justice Concerns and the Rights Agenda:
The Environmental Justice movement, while incorporating environmental concerns, has been working to protect the human rights of workers and communities who have been exposed to toxic chemicals by corporations or the government. These activists seek to improve community development and planning while respecting ecological limits. Dumping toxics and locating waste facilities in low-income and minority neighborhoods has also been addressed by the Environmental Justice movement. Going beyond the focus of ecological preservation and wilderness protection of more traditional environmental groups, this movement recognizes the effects of pollution in low-income neighborhoods as an abuse of their economic human rights.
Other rights issues have been addressed by the environmental community. Beginning in the early 1970’s, some members of the environmental movement began to advocate for the rights of non-human life and biotic communities such as forests and wetlands. These environmental groups organize for the protection of natural resources based on their "inherent value," a concept much like a human’s inalienable rights. Ecological Economics, a field of economic study dedicated to natural resource management and sustainable development issues, has taken on the role of outlining the importance of sustainability principles in economic planning. Both of these fields contribute to the argument that the protection of economic human rights and environmental safety are interdependent and critical to our survival.
The Human Rights Movement
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 is often considered to be the start of the modern "Human Rights Movement." It was written when movements, such as Labor and Women’s rights, began establishing laws that enforced humanitarian conditions. It was also when nations, such as India, sought freedom from colonial rule and brought human and economic rights to the global audience.
In 1961, a group of lawyers, journalists and writers began what eventually became "Amnesty International," a non-governmental group that appealed for the release of all "prisoners of conscience," or individuals that were being detained by governments for peacefully expressing their political views. Their work was different from previous humanitarian appeals because of its explicitly non-partisan stance and its demand for universality in the recognition of human rights. Amnesty restricted its work to individual prisoners. Their letter-writing campaigns, however, have shown how public opinion can put pressure on governments to adhere to the conventions for human rights.
To address other issues, some organizations formed that had more explicitly political goals. Some of the most well known of these groups, those that make up today’s Human Rights Watch (such as Helsinki Watch), helped monitor human rights abuses in Eastern Europe and significantly contributed to the fall of the "iron curtain."
The movement saw great changes in the 1980’s and early 1990’s. Thousands of advocacy groups were formed and gained strength and membership during this time. The fall of communism in Europe and the end of government-sanctioned apartheid in South Africa (including the freeing of political prisoners in both of these situations) created momentum for a number of organizations.
Economic Rights and Worker Rights
"…[the] concentration of wealth and power has been built upon other people’s money, other people’s business, other people’s labor…. There is no excuse for it in the cold terms of industrial efficiency." Franklin Roosevelt Campaign Address, 1936 President Franklin Roosevelt was one of the most vocal modern proponents of economic rights. In his annual address to the Congress on January 11, 1944, he proposed an "Economic Bill of Rights" that included key principles such as:
Because unfair working conditions and unfair economic environments promote the abuse of human rights, labor and international organizations have taken up the cause of economic human rights.
"The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms of the nation" "The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation" "The right to adequate protection from sickness and accident"
Establishing the rights of workers via conventions and organizations has served many purposes. Humanitarian concerns for the welfare of workers, economic concerns about competitiveness and fair working conditions, political concerns about social upheaval and peacetime industrial alliance have been some of the motivating factors. In 1919 the International Labor Organization was formed by industrialists, workers and government representatives following WWI. They succeeded in limiting the work week, addressing child labor and injustice in the workplace. The organization was formed to set industrial standards and advocate for human rights. Currently, Michel Hansenne, former Belgian Minister of Employment and Labour and of the Civil Service is head of the organization.
Today, severe economic inequality makes the need for the protection of worker and economic rights more essential than ever. Unemployment, underemployment, the wealth gap and the rise in downsizing have created conditions that foster economic disparity.
Within the U.S. the labor movement has been advocating for domestic worker rights and is currently evaluating the broader concept of economic rights. The AFL-CIO’s "America Needs a Raise" and Union Cities campaigns reflect leadership at the national level on this issue. Initiatives such as the Living Wage campaigns and the campaign to organize temporary and contingent workers by Sustainable America members ACORN, Northeast Action and The Campaign for a Sustainable Milwaukee are addressing low-wage worker’s rights.
But today, many of these rights are still denied. Many members of theSustainable America coalition such as United for a Fair Economy, ACORN, the United Methodist Church Global Board of Church and Society, the Center for Popular Economics and the Workers Organizing Committee have been addressing and studying these fundamental worker rights issues.
Although organizations and advocates have worked on establishing economic rights for years, a new vision is forming among economic rights advocates and progressive organizations.
Like the civil rights, environmental justice and labor movements before it, those of us concerned about economic rights are taking a critical look at our democracy and calling for needed changes.
Websites for More Information on Human Rights
Human rights education links http://134.84.205.236/edulink.htm#Human Rights Education Links Links to several human rights websites http://134.84.205.236/bibliogr.htm Amnesty International - Human Rights Educators’ Network http://www.amnesty-volunteer.org/usa/education/lessons.html The Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/ Feminist Majority Foundation http://www.feminist.org/textmenu.html Houston UDHR50 Committee http://www.culturalbridges.com/rights Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/ National Organization for Women http://www.now.org/ Sustainable America http://www.sanetwork.org Texas NOW http://www.txnow.org/ UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/crc/ Universal Declaration of Human Rights 50th Anniversary - The Roosevelt Institute http://www.udhr50.org/ UDHR50 - Education Resource Center (lesson plans) http://www.udhr50.org/Education/ Human Rights Education KNOWLEDGE AND BEHAVIORAL OBJECTIVES
Participants will aspire to put their learning into action by:1. Recognizing that every human is born with the inalienable human rights listed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
2. Distinguishing between civil and political rights, and economic, social and cultural rights through an understanding of the International Bill of Human Rights.
3. Defining key human rights terms and applying them appropriately. Lists assume previous grades knowledge of terms. Key human rights terms include:
4. Using language respectful of others race, sex, religion, physical strength, size, features, friendship groups, age, culture, disability, financial status, clothing, classroom performance etc. and actively encouraging others to do so.
Pre-K to Grade 4 Grades 5-8 Grades 9-12 Responsibility (Personal, Social, Legal, and Moral) Fairness Discrimination Equality Order Freedom Justice Rules Law Covenant Nationality Citizenship State Sovereignty Diversity Discrimination Genocide Immigrant Refugee Asylum Participation Democracy Global Community 5. Working cooperatively with others and identifying and applying appropriate strategies for problem solving.
6. Sharing resources with the community.
7. Recognizing a diversity of opinions and making a concerted effort to understand them.
8. Taking responsibility for own values and actions.
9. Participating in democratic decision making as a citizen of a local, national, and international community.
10. Analyzing a human rights problem, developing potential solutions, and taking action in a way which upholds the human rights of all parties involved.
Source: Peace Resource Center, Partners in Human Rights Education
Educators Resource Center SAMPLE LESSON PLANS A Human Rights Tree Economic Security & Property Ownership (17, 22, 25) Author: Human Rights Here and Now
Background Information, Materials, or Resources Needed:
Age Range: Middle/Junior High School (Grades 5-8). Senior High School (Grades 9-12). Post-Secondary. Adult and Community Education. Materials: Art supplies, chart paper
Classroom Lesson, Community Action, or Other Information:
1. Ask participants, working in small groups, to draw a tree on large chart paper. Write on the tree (in the form of leaves, fruits, flowers, or branches) those human rights that they think all people need to live in dignity and justice. A human rights tree needs roots to grow and flourish. Give the tree roots and label them with the things that make human rights flourish. For example, a healthy economy, the rule of law, or universal education.2. When drawings are complete, ask each group to present its tree and explain its reasons for the items they have included.
3. Match the fruits, leaves, and branches with articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and write the number of the article next to each item. Display these trees in the classroom or in public places.
4. Identify rights concerns that are of particular concern to you and your community.
A New Planet Economic Security & Property Ownership (17, 22, 25) Author: Human Rights Here and Now
Background Information, Materials, or Resources Needed:
Age Range: Middle/Junior High School (Grades 5-8). Senior High School (Grades 9-12). Post-Secondary. Adult and Community Education. Time: 1 hour
Materials: Blackboard and chalk; chart paper and marking pens for each group; copies of the UDHR, complete or simplified version
Classroom Lesson, Community Action, or Other Information:
PART A: Human Rights for a New Planet
1. Read the following scenario: A small new planet has been discovered that has everything needed to sustain human life. No one has ever lived there. There are no laws, no rules, and no history. You will all be settlers here and in preparation your group has been appointed to draw up the bill of rights for this all-new planet. You do not know what position you will have in this country.
2. Instruct participants, working in small groups, to do the following:
a. Give this new planet a name.
b. Decide on ten rights that the whole group can agree upon and list them on the blackboard or chart paper.3. Each group presents its list to the class. As they do so, make a "master list" that includes all the rights the groups mention, combining similar rights.
4. When all the groups have reported their lists, examine the master list: Do some of the rights overlap? Can they be combined? Is any right listed on only one list? Should it be included or eliminated?
5. Discussion questions: Did your ideas about which rights were most important change during the activity? How would life be on this planet if some of these rights were excluded? Are there any rights you would still like to add to the final list? Why is making a list like this useful?
PART B: Linking Rights to the UDHR
1. When the master list is complete, participants return to their small group and try to match the rights listed with articles of the UDHR. Some rights may include several articles. Others may not be in the UDHR at all. Alternative: To save time, assign each group specific rights from the master list to investigate.
2. As a group finishes, ask a representative to write down the numbers of the articles they have identified next to the right on the master list. You may need to add an extra chart sheet next to the master list.
3. Review each right on the list. As participants identify a right with a particular UDHR article, ask that they read the simplified version of the article aloud. Resolve any contradictions about which right matches which article.
4. Discuss: Were some of the rights on the list not included in the UDHR? How can you explain this omission? Were some rights in the UDHR not included on the group's list? How can you explain this omission?
1. Personal Preferences - At this point, especially if a natural break occurs, ask participants to mark on the list the three rights that mean the most to them personally. The facilitator can then tally up the marks to see how many each right received. When the group continues, remind participants about the interdependency and indivisibility of rights. Discuss: Why do you think certain rights received so many marks from this group? Are there special circumstances in this community or country that make some rights more important than others?
2. Categories of Rights - Explain the distinction between civil/political rights and social/economic/ cultural rights. Ask participants to determine which rights on their list are civil and political and which are social, economic, and cultural. Did any one kind of right predominate? Why?
1. A New School - This activity can be adapted to imagine the creation of a totally new school. This version could lead into an examination of the human rights climate of the current school and the creation of a list of "school rights," which would improve the school or classroom environment. These might be written as both rights and responsibilities (e.g., "Everyone has the right to be treated with respect" and "Everyone has the responsibility to treat others with respect"). This analysis of school problems could lead directly to action projects.
2. What If? - To emphasize the universal application of rights, the activity might be varied by assigning some groups specific roles in the society on the new planet (e.g., you are disabled, a member of an ethnic minority, a millionaire) while other groups have no roles. Did having a particular position in society influence ideas about necessary rights? These differences could also be included through discussion or having each participant draw a role, for example, "What if on the new planet you were a disabled person? Would this fact affect your ideas about necessary rights?".
Giving Human Rights a Human Face Responsibilities & Action (30) Author: Human Rights Here and Now
Brief Summary of Lesson or Action: Participants produce a creative expression of an article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). This activity can be modified to make the resulting creations into a guessing game, a community presentation, or a celebration for December 10, Human Rights Day. Participants could also create posters to serve as reminders for creating a human rights environment or community.
Age Range: Middle/Junior High School (Grades 5-8). Senior High School (Grades 9-12). Post-Secondary. Adult and Community Education. Background Information, Materials, or Resources Needed:
Variable Materials: Copies of the UDHR, official or simplified version; Art supplies
Classroom Lesson, Community Action, or Other Information:
1. Working individually or in small groups, participants select an article of the UDHR that they feel is especially important. They might illustrate a right enjoyed, denied, defended, or all three.2. Create - a skit or mime; a graphic illustration or mural; a song, dance, proverb, or game (these might include adaptations of traditional culture); a poem or story; a commercial advertisement; a flag or a banner. Note: The project should not reveal the number of the article it illustrates.
3. When the projects are complete, ask each team or individual to show their creation. The rest of the participants try to guess which article of the UDHR is illustrated. When it is correctly identified, the person or team that answers correctly reads the full article aloud. These presentations might be structured as a team competition with points to the teams that identify the correct article.
1. Display - Post graphic illustrations in a library, children's museum, or community building or use them to create a calendar or a mural.
2. Present - The skits, mimes, songs, dances, or writings can be presented as a performance for classmates, parents, or other groups in the community.
3. Celebrate - One can celebrate Human Rights Day by planning a December 10th Festival around these materials. Invite your local newspaper, TV stations, and public officials.
1. Posters for Public Places - Create illustrations or posters that remind others that human rights should be part of everyone's lives. For example, create posters that remind everyone that the workplace or school is a "human rights community." Where special problems exist, these posters could serve as a basis for action. Strategize how to use these posters to ensure that rights are honored and changes take place in your community.Talking Stick (Peace & Conflict Resolution) Freedom of Opinion (19) Author: Amnesty International
Brief Summary of Lesson or Action:
Age Range: Preschool to Grade 4. Middle/Junior High School (Grades 5-8). Aim: This sharing activity helps children develop listening and talking skills.
Learning point: "Children have the right to express their own opinions and to meet together to express their views".
Background Information, Materials, or Resources Needed:
What you need: Summary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child available at UNICEF's website:
http://www.unicef.org/crc/. Any knobbly stick, not too big, and without sharp bits.
Time: At least 10 minutes
How to do it: Explain to the children that the Native American People or "Indians" had a way of listening to each other so that everyone got a chance to talk. They used a talking stick. Whoever has the talking stick has the power to speak and everyone else has the power to listen. The stick is passed around in a circle. Anyone who doesn’t want to speak simply passes it on. The talking stick can be used in different ways. For example, to tell news or to give opinions. It is a good way to get shy children to speak with confidence and to persuade dominant children to respect the rights of other children. ~ A good way to start is for the teacher to take the stick and, for example, say something which he or she likes, then pass the stick on to the child next to him or her. This is an easy way to show the children how to use the talking stick.
Be sure not to force children to speak.
~ After the activity, ask the questions below.Questions:
What was it like to speak / to hear other people speak?
~ Did you find out anything new or surprising?
Do you like to be interrupted?
~ What is the advantage of letting someone speak without interruptions?Choices:
When fights or other incidents have happened, this can be used to find out the opinions of the class about what should be done to solve the conflict.
~ Adults can use this activity in exactly the same way, for example to get to know each other.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
On December 10, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the full text of which appears in the following pages. Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize 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."
Universal Declaration of Human Rights PREAMBLE
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in cooperation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,
Now Therefore, The General Assembly proclaims This Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.
Article 1
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. Article 2Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty. Article 3Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 4
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms. Article 5No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.Article 6Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
Article 7
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination. Article 8Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law. Article 9No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Article 10
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him. Article 111. Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence. Article 122. No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks. Article 131. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State.Article 142. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
1. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. Article 152. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
1. Everyone has the right to a nationality.
2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.Article 161. 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 marriage and at its dissolution. Article 172. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
3. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
1. Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.Article 18
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. Article 19Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. Article 201. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
2. No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
Article 21
1 . Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives. 2. Everyone has the right to equal access to public service in his country.3. The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures. Article 22Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality. Article 231. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. Article 24
2. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.3. Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
4. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay. Article 251. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. Article 262. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
1. Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional Article 27education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
2. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.1. Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits. Article 282. Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized. Article 291. Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible. Article 302. In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
3. These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.
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