The word ‘human rights’ has come to refer to the basic freedoms and dignity that all people are born with. These include the right to life, the freedom from torture, and the right to work and education. These freedoms are the foundation for a society that is free, just and peaceful. Without them, societies become violent and oppressive.
The protection of human rights has improved significantly over the years, but much more needs to be done. In this section, you can find data, visualizations and writing on how the protection of human rights has changed over time and how it differs between countries. It also varies between people of different genders, sexualities and ethnicities.
A key challenge remains — how to make sure that human rights are respected and enforced, especially in countries with fragile democracies or dictatorships where there is a high risk of reversals. This requires political will, strong international cooperation and support from non-governmental organisations, civil society and the private sector. It also requires a good understanding of how different groups in societies interact and what drives their behaviour, such as economic inequality, religion, culture and ageing.
In addition to strengthening laws and building capacity in countries, it is important to raise global awareness about human rights issues. This can be achieved by providing information about human rights abuses and by encouraging people to demand change from their governments.
Some human rights violations are more serious than others, and can threaten the survival of entire communities. Examples of these severe human rights abuses are genocide, ethnic cleansing, forced marriage, sexual violence in conflict zones, and the denial of humanitarian aid.
Throughout history, people have sought to assert their fundamental rights and to protect themselves from violations of these rights by governmental authorities and by private individuals and groups. These efforts led to the creation of an international legal framework for protecting human rights, starting with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948. This document was drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world. It was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in December 1948 and has been translated into more than 500 languages.
The UDHR was a milestone in the development of human rights law and has been described as one of the most important documents in history. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected and it has guided the formation of many new States and the drafting of their constitutions. It also has served as a model for non-governmental organizations and the private sector in their efforts to promote and protect human rights around the globe. It has become the most widely translated document in the world. Watch this video, adapted from the work of the French digital artist YAK, to hear people from around the world reading the 30 articles of the UDHR in their own language. Women delegates from several countries played a crucial role in getting women’s rights included in the UDHR.