The UN adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
On this day · 10 December 1948
On December 10, 1948, the UN General Assembly proclaimed a common standard of human dignity—with not a single vote against it.
On December 10, 1948, meeting in Paris, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as Resolution 217 A (III). Of the assembly’s members, 48 voted in favor, none against, and eight abstained—a striking near-consensus for a document drafted in the shadow of the Second World War.
The text runs to 30 articles spelling out rights that belong to everyone simply by being human: freedom from torture and slavery, equality before the law, the right to education, work, and a fair trial. It was the first time governments had agreed, in writing, on a shared baseline of dignity.
The drafting committee was chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, widely credited as the force that drove the Declaration to adoption.
It set out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected.
Though not a binding treaty, the Declaration has shaped countless constitutions and laws and has been translated into more than 500 languages, making it the most translated document in the world.
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