BASIC KNOWLEDGE
THE UNITED NATIONS
The United Nations came into being on October 24, 1945, shortly after the end of World War
II. It was an initiative of the 5 major powers that won the war: China, England, France, the Soviet
Union and the United States. Together with 47 other nations, they decided to create an organization
to “save future generations from the scourge of war.” There are now 189 Member Nations of the
United Nations, each with a vote in the General Assembly.
The UN is an organization of independent, sovereign nations. It is NOT a world government
and does not have its own military force. It cannot interfere in the internal affairs of its Member Nations
unless there is a threat to international peace and security. The UN is a place where Member States meet to
discuss mutual concerns and to provide tools for cooperating to solve common problems.
The United Nations Charter spells out the UN’s purposes:
- Maintain international peace and security.
- Develop friendly relations among nations.
- Cooperate internationally in solving economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems.
- Promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
- Be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations in attaining these common goals.
What are Human Rights?
They are the rights that you have because you are a human being. You do not need anything else to have these rights.
They were written by the United Nations in 1948.
Where, after all, do
universal 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 neighborhood 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 concerned citizen action to uphold them
close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.
— Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884 - 1962
Widow of the former USA President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Chair of the
United Nations Commission that wrote the Universal Declaration in 1948
General Assembly called upon all Member
countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and “to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in
schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories.”
sublinks
Human Rights Action is
About Getting Out the Word!
Whether you sign a human rights petition or talk about human rights issues
with your friends and classmates, you are letting people know that you, personally,
are watching out for human rights. You are also showing clearly that you are willing
to use your power to protect human rights.
Never doubt that human rights are your business. Human rights are
everybody.s business. You have the right to protect human rights in your own
home and community and on every continent.
Know something else about human rights activities, they.re enormously satisfying
to those who engage in them. You are helping yourself when you help others.
UNITED NATIONS
DECADE FOR HUMAN
RIGHTS EDUCATION
A message to young people:
“Today we mark the beginning of
the 50th anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. In every part
of the world men, women and children of
every colour and creed will gather to embrace
our common human rights.
Human rights are the foundation of
human existence and co-existence. Human
rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent.
Human rights are what makes us
human. They are the principle by which we
create the sacred home for human dignity.
When we speak of the right to life,
or development, or to dissent and diversity,
we are speaking of tolerance. Tolerance
promoted, protected and enshrined will
ensure all freedoms. Without it we can be
certain of none.
Human rights are the expression of
those traditions of tolerance in all religions
and cultures that are the basis of peace and progress. Human rights are foreign to no culture and
native to all nations. Tolerance and mercy have always and in all cultures been ideals of government
rule and human behavior. Today, we call these ideals human rights.
It is the universality of human rights that gives them their strength. It endows them with
the power to cross any border, climb any wall, defy any force.
The struggle for universal human rights has always and everywhere been the struggle
against all forms of tyranny and injustice: against slavery, against colonialism, against apartheid.
It is nothing less and nothing different today.
Young friends all over the world, you are the ones who must realize these rights, now and
for all time. Their fate and future is in your hands. Human rights are your rights. Seize them.
Defend them. Pronounce them. Understand and insist on them. Nourish and enrich them. They
are the best in us. Give them life.”
From:
Kofi Annan,
Secretary General of the United Nations
1995 - 2004
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Version for Young People
FOR A MORE ACCURATE VIEW GO TO THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT (Declaration COMPLETE VERSION)
To contact us: unrights@aol.com
1. We are all born free and equal.
We are all born free and equal in dignity and rights. and having reason and conscience should treat others in a spirit of brotherhood.
2. Don’t discriminate.
These rights belong to everybody, whatever our differences.
3. The right to life.
We all have the right to life, and to live in freedom and safety.
4. Slavery - past and present.
Nobody has any right to make us a slave. We cannot make anyone our slave.
5. Torture.
Nobody has any right to hurt us or to torture us. Nobody should receive degrated treatment.
6. We all have the same right to use the law. I am a person just like you!
7. We are all protected by the law.
The law is the same for everyone. It must treat us all fairly.
8. Fair treatment by fair courts.
We can all ask for the law to help us when we are not treated fairly.
9. Unfair detainment.
Nobody has the right to put us in prison without a good reason and keep us there, or to send us away from our country.
10. The right to trial.
If we are put on trial this should be in public. The people who try us should not let anyone tell them what to do.
11. Innocent until proven guilty.
Nobody should be blamed for doing something until it is proven. When people say we did a bad thing we have the right to show it is not true.
12. The right to privacy.
Nobody should try to harm our good name. Nobody has the right to come into our home, open our letters or bother us or our family without a good reason.
13. Freedom to move.
We all have the right to go where we want in our own country and to travel as we wish.
14. The right to asylum. If we are frightened of being badly treated in our own country, we all have the right to run away to another country to be safe.
15. The right to a nationality.
We all have the right to belong to a country.
16. Marriage and family. Every grown-up has the right to marry and have a family if they want to. Men and women have the same rights when they are married, and when they are separated.
17. Your own things.
Everyone has the right to own things or share them. Nobody should take our things from us without a good reason.
18. Freedom of thought.
We all have the right to believe in what we want to believe, to have a religion, or to change it if we want.
19. Free to say what you want.
We all have the right to say what we think, and to share our ideas with other people.
20. Meet where you like.
We all have the right to meet our friends and to work together in peace to defend our rights. Nobody can make us join a group if we don’t want to.
21. The right to democracy.
We all have the right to take part in the government of our country. Every grown-up should be allowed to choose their own leaders.
22. The right to social security.
We all have the right to affordable housing, medicine, education, and child care, enough money to live on and medical help if we are ill or old.
23. Workers’ rights.
Every grown-up has the right to do a job, to a fair wage for their work, and to join a trade union.
24. The right to play.
We all have the right to rest from work and to relax.
25. A bed and some food.
We all have the right to a good life. Mothers and children, people who are old, unemployed or disabled, and all people have the right to be cared for.
26. The right to education.
Education is a right. Primary school should be free. We should learn about the United Nations and how to get on with others. Our parents can choose what we learn.
27. Culture and copyright.
Copyright is a special law that protects one’s own artistic creations and writings; others cannot make copies without permission. We all have the right to our own way of life and to enjoy the good things that “art”, science and learning bring.
28. A free and fair world.
There must be proper order so we can all enjoy rights and freedoms in our own country and all over the world.
29. Our responsibilities. \
We have a duty to other people, and we should protect their rights and freedoms.
30. Nobody can take away these rights and freedoms from us.
Friends of the United Nations, Founder and vicepresident: Irving Sarnoff: irvingsarnoff@hotmail.com
Amigos de la ONU, Groups of actions toward peace (GAP) , Grupos de accion por la paz:
World wide special representative: Alicia Quaini: unrights@aol.com, amigosdelaonu@aol.com
Links to GAP: Mozambique Miami United for peace Creo Paz China Somalia BuenosAires1 Ushuaia Bahrain Baja California Chattam Capilla Arabian Peace
