Human Rights Are Not A Recent Invention

However, it was the growth of totalitarian regimes in the 20th Century and the atrocities of World War 2 which helped make the protection of human rights an international concern.

The first attempt to develop a comprehensive statement of human rights resulted in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

Developing the UDHR was a difficult task and drafting the document took a number of years. Different countries held very different views which had been shaped by their cultural, social and religious backgrounds.

Australia played an important role in drafting the document and building agreement between the different countries.

On 10 December 1948, the UDHR was adopted unanimously by the members of the United Nations. Since then it has been the foundation on which much international law has been based.

The UDHR sets out the fundamental rights of all people, including the right to life; freedom from slavery, torture and arbitrary arrest; freedom of thought, opinion and religion; the right to a fair trial and equality before the law; the right to work and education; and the right to participate in the social, political and cultural life of one's country.

The UDHR contains three forms of rights:

Civil and political rights are often described in a negative form (‘freedom from') rather than a positive form (‘rights to'). They attempt to safeguard the individual, alone and in association with others, against the misuse of political authority. See Articles 2 - 21 of the UDHR.

Economic, cultural and social rights require governments to help their citizens to participate fully in society, such as the right to work and to education. They are ‘positive' rather than ‘negative'. See Articles 22 - 27 of the UDHR.

Solidarity rights reflect the emergence of developing countries and their call for a global redistribution of power and wealth. The rights include the right to political, social and cultural self-determination and the right to economic and social development. See Article 28 of the UDHR.

Visit the UN Website to read the full text of Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English and other languages.