Human Rights Day

What the day is

Human Rights Day is observed on December 10 each year. It commemorates the day in 1948 when the United Nations General Assembly, meeting in Paris, adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The declaration was the first time the nations of the world set out, in a single document, the basic rights belonging to every person.

The day is widely observed by governments, schools, aid organizations and campaign groups, and the UN picks a theme each year to focus attention on a particular issue.

Origin and background

The Universal Declaration was drafted in the wake of the Second World War and the Holocaust, by a committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt and made up of representatives from many countries and traditions. It has thirty articles that cover civil and political rights, such as freedom from torture and the right to a fair trial, and economic, social and cultural rights, such as the right to education and to work. It was adopted without a dissenting vote, though eight countries abstained.

In 1950 the General Assembly formally invited all states and interested organizations to observe December 10 as Human Rights Day. The declaration is not a treaty, so it does not carry the force of law by itself. Even so, it has shaped national constitutions and later treaties, and it has been translated into more than five hundred languages, which the UN notes is more than any other document.

The work of defending human rights continues, and the day is often used to highlight places where those rights are still denied.

How to take part

• Read the thirty articles of the Universal Declaration. It takes about ten minutes and is available in your language.
• Learn about the theme the UN has chosen for the year and the issue it highlights.
• Support an organization that documents abuses or helps people whose rights are denied.
• Write to an elected representative about an issue you care about.
• Talk with children or students about what rights mean in daily life, such as fairness, safety and being heard.