Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Audience

The intended audience of this document is essentially everyone in the world. The UDHR was written with victims of the World War II Holocaust (systematic elimination of Jews and other “undesirables”) in mind, but its more immediate audience was the United Nations, whose members had to approve the declaration. At the same time, each delegate represented a nation and had to be accountable to that particular government.

Finally, the intended audience was the people of the future. Many times during the proceedings, delegates would stop to consider what the future world might be like and how their document might address the needs of future generations. They were acutely aware of the historical burden they carried, although they probably did not realize how their document would retain its moral stature into the next century.