Statement Of Essential Human Rights

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The Global Citizenship Commission was convened, under the leadership of former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the auspices of NYU’s Global Institute for Advanced Study, to re-examine the spirit and stirring words of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The result – this volume – offers a 21st-century commentary on the original document, furthering the work of human rights and illuminating the ideal of global citizenship. What does it mean for each of us to be members of a global community? Since 1948, the Declaration has stood as a beacon and a standard for a better world. Yet the work of making its ideals real is far from over. Hideous and systemic human rights abuses continue to be perpetrated at an alarming rate around the world. Too many people, particularly those in power, are hostile to human rights or indifferent to their claims. Meanwhile, our global interdependence deepens. Bringing together world leaders and thinkers in the fields of politics, ethics, and philosophy, the Commission set out to develop a common understanding of the meaning of global citizenship – one that arises from basic human rights and empowers every individual in the world. This landmark report affirms the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and seeks to renew the 1948 enterprise, and the very ideal of the human family, for our day and generation.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948 at Palais de Chaillot, Paris. The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled.

This volume celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). In so doing, it offers a comprehensive and systematic treatment of the rights and duties contained in the UDHR, in the light of its history, the intentions of its drafters ant the standard-setting activities and monitoring efforts which have grown out of its existence. Each article of the UDHR is treated in a separate chapter; each chapter is written by different authors, all scholars from or associated with the Nordic countries, all active in human rights work, either academically or in the field. A consolidated bibliography completes the collection. The subtitle of this volume is "A Common Standard of Achievement," a phrase drawn from the Preamble of the UDHR. In many ways, this collection is intended to demonstrate that this phrase has, to a considerable extent, come true.

In 1948, Eleanor Roosevelt served as chairwoman of the United Nations committee to create this declaration of moral conscience, now used by Amnest International as their founding document. This edition is in six languages: English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian, and Arabic.