Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Impact

The declaration provides a yardstick or guidepost for setting goals and measuring progress toward those goals. NGOs and grassroots movements have played a critical role in transforming the words of the UDHR into action and in making governments accountable. Governments have often been quick to pay lip service but slow to protect human rights. The greatest impact globally seems to have been in the inspiration, hope, and empowerment that this document has given to “common people” who do not experience human rights but know that they have a right to seek justice.

However, the declaration has also had significant impact on the constitutions of more than two dozen nations that either became independent from colonial rule after 1948 or that have reviewed and rewritten their constitutions. No government is willing to stand in the face of the declaration and deny outright the existence of human rights. Acknowledging the UDHR is an important step toward developing a culture of human rights, but governments must have the political will to implement them within their own national borders as well as internationally, and this has been less forthcoming.

The declaration has been of great importance within the UN system itself. Its moral power has provided the foundation for numerous conventions, treaties, and covenants promoting and protecting human rights. Yet the second half of the twentieth century saw genocide, ethnic cleansing, and continued violence against women and children. However, as former U.S. president Jimmy Carter noted, when countries sign and ratify human rights conventions, at least some accountability is required. Political will is also required of the United Nations itself. The Commission on Human Rights presented two human rights covenants to the General Assembly in 1966, but it took a full ten years for them to be ratified.

Scholars and activists continue to debate whether the UDHR recognizes women's rights. Another key concern is the issue of universality. Many have noted the absence of many African and Asian countries, as well as the dominance of three Western nations, on the core committee. There also appears to be an imbalance within the document itself, with considerable weight given to Western Enlightenment views of individuals' rights. Despite the obstacles and challenges that every person faces in the enjoyment of their basic human rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has no doubt played a critical role in the development of awareness of human rights and the need to promote and protect them.