The United Nations has played a pivotal role in the evolution of human rights norms and in development of the legal framework for the promotion and protection of these rights. You can find out more about how the UN has contributed to the development of human rights by reading the sections below.

On the other pages in this site you can find out more about current key human rights issues such as the Human Rights Council and the 'Responsibility to Protect', as well as background information on the UN and humanitarian action. There are also resource pages containing human rights articles and resources, as well as information on UN human rights machinery.

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Recent human rights and humanitarian issues

UNA-UK celebrates UDHR60 On Human Rights Day 2007, the United Nations launched a year-long campaign to mark the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As part of its commemoration of the anniversary, UNA-UK is running a competition which asks: who is your human rights hero? Send us 100 words arguing the case for a particular human rights champion, and you could win a free copy of The Oxford Handbook on the United Nations and see your entry published in our flagship magazine, New World. For more details on the competition, click here. To find out more, visit click here.

UN General Assembly adopts landmark declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples After more than two decades of negotiations, the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on 13 September 2007, an historic achievement for the more than 370 million indigenous people worldwide. The draft declaration had been referred to the Assembly by the UN Human Rights Council which, in a breakthrough last year, adopted the text. In the General Assembly 143 states voted in favour of the declaration, eleven abstained, and four countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States) - all of which have substantial indigenous populations - voted against. Click here to read more.

©UN Photo/ Devra Berkowitz

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The United Nations and the development of human rights law

One of the great achievements of the United Nations is the creation of a comprehensive body of human rights law, which, for the first time in history, provides us with a universal and internationally protected code of human rights, one to which all nations can subscribe and to which all people can aspire.

Not only has the Organisation painstakingly defined a broad range of internationally accepted rights — including economic, social and cultural, as well as political and civil rights; it has also established mechanisms with which to promote and protect these rights and to assist governments in carrying out their responsibilities.

In 1948 the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the first multinational agreement to mention human rights by name. The Universal Declaration is not legally binding but its ideas have been elaborated into a legal framework comprised of binding treaties. The core international human rights treaties are listed below, in the order in which they came into force:

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) {read here} 1965

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) {read here} 1966

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) {read here} 1966

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) {read here} 1979

Convention Against Torture (CAT) {read here} 1984

Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) {read here} 1989

Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (MWC) {read here} 1990

International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (not yet in force) {read here}

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (not yet in force) {read here}

Several of the above treaties feature optional protocols, provisions added to the legislation after its entry into force. Signatories can choose whether also to sign the optional protocol. This list is not finite, and discussions are ongoing to add to it. Negotiations are being held, for example, to create a declaration on the rights of the disabled and on forced disappearances.

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