Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
When you talk about the major accomplishments of Eleanor Roosevelt, you have to mention the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
On December 10, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly issued the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) - 30 rights and freedoms that we all share. Seven decades later, the rights they included remain the foundation of all international human rights law.
Eleanor Roosevelt was an outspoken supporter of civil rights and social activism. She was appointed chair of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, which drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Eleanor delivered a speech at the United Nations on the tenth anniversary of the UDHR titled "Where Do Human Rights Begin?" Part of her speech has become famous for elucidating why human rights are important to all of us in all aspects of our daily lives: "Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighbourhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world."
The UDHR made a significant step forward by asserting that all human beings are free and equal, regardless of race, creed, or religion. For the first time, a global agreement prioritized human beings over power politics.
