Human Rights at 60

Just a brief mention of the 60th anniversary of that fantastic document, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights text here and presented in a great animation on Youtube.

Obviously the declaration came out of the terrible realisation of the depths that humanity can descend to but also ways that human rights are violated in smaller ways as well that tend to undermine the rule of law and equity between human beings.

The UDHR is a document well worth celebrating and has spawned a number of human rights frameworks and initiatives (regional and national human rights laws for instance including the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights).

And amidst all the talk of the need to include responsibilities as well as rights it is instructive to note they are referenced at different points in the Declaration.

Lots of stuff on the 60 anniversary of the UDHR on the EHRC's website including a speech by Gordon Brown.

After 60 years we are only just starting to put human rights into practice.