December 10, 1948, is an important date for all humanity: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in Paris, France. This past December, we celebrated the 75th anniversary of World Human Rights Day.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted by a UN committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt and consists of 30 articles documenting an individual’s fundamental freedoms and affirming basic human rights regardless of race, gender, nationality, ethnicity, language, and religion. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education among many others. The UDHR has been translated into 530 languages, more than any document in history. We need to revisit the UDHR given the injustices, violence, and disregard for human rights throughout the world including Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and the Israel-Hamas Gaza War.
On the day the UDHR was signed, 5,637 miles away in Los Angeles, I was born. Human rights has been a major theme throughout my parents’ lives and have been a guidepost for my brother and me.