Human rights are fundamental to the United Nations. The Preamble of the UN Charter states:
We the peoples of the United Nations [are] determined... to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small.
One of the early acts of the General Assembly was to draft and adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, resolution 217 A of 10 December 1948.
More recent UN actions include the adoption of international human rights treaties, the creation of the position of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in 1993 and the establishment of the Human Rights Council in 2006. There is on-going discussion about how to reform the treaty-body system.
During its 60th session, the General Assembly adopted the World Summit Outcome, resolution 60/1 of 16 September 2005, which called, inter alia, for strengthening of the UN's human rights mechanisms. Reform of the human rights mechanisms is ongoing and the documentation is changing to reflect the changes. This guide provides an overview of current practice, as well as guidance on the historical documentation.
The UN Yearbook on Human Rights was published for the years 1946-1988.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is one of the first UN documents to elaborate the principles of human rights mentioned in the UN Charter. It was adopted by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) on 10 December 1948, by a vote of 48-0-8.
Human Rights Day is celebrated on 10 December every year.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is one part of the resolution on the "International Bill of Human Rights" (A/RES/217 (III)). Following the adoption of this five-part resolution in 1948, two covenants were drafted that are also considered part of the International Bill of Human Rights, both were adopted in 1966:
Unlike the covenants, the UDHR is not a treaty and has not been signed or ratified by states. See the UN Treaty Collection Glossary for more information on declarations.
The UN has adopted many more declarations and conventions on human rights topics since 1948. The lists on the UN Treaty Collection and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights websites are excellent starting points for research.
The drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights took place from 1946-1948 in several bodies including:
Documents related to the drafting are available online through the ODS, UN Digital Library and the Drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights research guide. Links to additional archival materials are found in the UNOG research guide on the UDHR.
There are several ways to approach research on the drafting of the UDHR. Procedural histories or travaux préparatoires of the UDHR provide reference to the documents including drafts of the declaration, proposals by countries, meeting records, reports, and voting information.
The drafters of the UDHR included many prominent people from around the world. The meeting records of the drafting bodies list the participants in the meetings; meeting records of the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly generally name just the presiding officer and the speakers. Eleanor Roosevelt served as the Chair of the Commission on Human Rights during the drafting of the UDHR; she is sometimes referred to in meeting records as Chairman or Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Some sources for starting research on the drafters include:
The meetings of the various drafting bodies were held in different places. The meeting records or the reports of the bodies on their sessions indicate the date, time and location of the meetings. The declaration was adopted at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris, where the third session of the General Assembly was held. The meeting at which the UDHR was adopted (A/PV.183) was held in the "grande salle" of the Palais de Chaillot in Paris, France. The Palais is a theatre and the "grande salle" is its main room.
At the time of the adoption of the UDHR in 1948, resolutions of the General Assembly were published in Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish. Over 500 translations can be found on the UDHR website of the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, including videos in several sign languages.
The Organization's work in human rights is carried out by a number of bodies. When researching human rights issues, a distinction must be made between Charter-based and treaty-based human rights bodies.
The Human Rights Council and its predecessor, the Commission on Human Rights, are called "Charter-based" as they were established by resolutions of principal organs of the UN whose authority flows from the UN Charter.
The current Charter-based bodies are:
The former Charter-based bodies were:
The Organization's work in human rights is carried out by a number of bodies. When researching human rights issues, a distinction must be made between Charter-based and treaty-based human rights bodies.
Nine UN human rights conventions have monitoring bodies to oversee the implementation of the treaty provisions. The treaty bodies are composed of independent experts and meet to consider State parties' reports as well as individual complaints or communications. They may also publish general comments on human rights topics related to the treaties they oversee. The treaty-based bodies tend to follow similar patterns of documentation.
Human Rights Committee (CCPR)
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (CMW)
Following the completion of the reform of the Charter-based human rights bodies and the establishment of the Human Rights Council, focus shifted to the reform of the treaty-bodies. On 9 April 2014, the General Assembly adopted a resolution on "Strengthening and enhancing the effective functioning of the human rights treaty body system" (A/RES/68/268).
The Secretary-General issues a "Compilation of guidelines on the form and content of reports to be submitted by States parties to the international human rights treaties" (HRI/GEN/2/Rev.6). This document provides details on the reporting requirements, including the core document, and treaty-specific documents.
The Committees may also issue general comments on thematic issues. These have been issued in "International human rights instruments: Compilation of General Comments and General Recommendations adopted by human rights treaty bodies" (HRI/GEN/1/Rev.9 Vol.I and Vol.II).
In addition to the Committees composed of experts, there are also Meetings of the States parties for the human rights conventions.
A note on acronyms
The name of a human rights convention and its monitoring body are often very similar and may have the same acronym. Throughout this guide, the acronyms refer to the treaty-monitoring bodies, not the conventions.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) leads UN activity on human rights issues.
OHCHR provides support for UN human rights activities, including:
UN Yearbook
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Arabic: وثائق الأمم المتحدة: حقوق الإنسان
Chinese: 联合国文件: 人权
English: UN Human Rights Documentation