A MESSAGE FROM BILL CLINTON
President of the United States

ON THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Hillary Rodham Clinton
The U.S. First Lady reflects on the significance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including its impact on women.

HUMAN RIGHTS: THE LEGACY AND THE FUTURE
An Interview With John Shattuck
Outgoing Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor John Shattuck discusses progress made in realizing the vision of the Universal Declaration and the human rights agenda for the future.

PERSPECTIVES ON HUMAN RIGHTS

From the U.S. Congress
Representative Tom Lantos, Co-Chair of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, and Senator Alfonse D'Amato, Co-Chair of the Congressional Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, provide a congressional view on the Universal Declaration, accompanied by a congressional resolution commemorating it.

From the United Nations
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson provide statements on the universality of human rights and the importance of the Universal Declaration.

From Four Human Rights Defenders
South Korean President Kim Dae Jung, Czech President Vaclav Havel, Aung San Suu Kyi, General Secretary of the National League for Democracy in Burma, and South African President Nelson Mandela, four of the most prominent human rights champions in the world, speak to the importance of the Universal Declaration from a personal standpoint.

PROTECTING RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
Felice Gaer
The director of the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, argues that religious freedom is guaranteed not only by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but by important components of international law as well. Accompanying her essay are quotations on human rights from a variety of sacred writings.

THE NOBLE ENDEAVOR
David Pitts
Our Managing Editor tells the story of the two-year effort to draft and adopt the Universal Declaration.

NGOs: FIFTY YEARS OF ADVOCATING HUMAN RIGHTS
William Korey
A noted human rights scholar examines the growth of the international human rights movement following the adoption of the Universal Declaration.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Recent books and articles on human rights.

INTERNET SITES
Sites on the World Wide Web that feature democracy and human rights issues, including sites on the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The opinions expressed on other Internet sites listed here do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. government.

Eleanor Roosevelt views the text of the Universal Declaration. Click here for Real Audio of an interview in New York in September 1958 in which Mrs. Roosevelt gives an insider's account of the passage of the UDHR. Free audio plug-in Franklin Delano Roosevelt, whose 1941 "Four Freedoms" speech (click here for the text) laid the groundwork for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Click here for Real Audio excerpts from that speech.

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