Short Note on Universal Declaration of Human Rights

In 1946 UN Commission on Human Rights were constituted to frame the International Bill of Rights, It was an attempt to create human rights instrument globally and for all nations and people. The drafting committee consisting of eight countries were formed which was chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt. Following many sessions and meetings, on 10 December 1948, the UDHR (Universal Declaration on Human Rights) resolution was passed by 48 members of the UN General Assembly and the 8 communist countries abstained from voting. These 48 states had backed the Declaration as the common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations.‘ The Universal Declaration consisted of 30 Articles along with Preamble.

This was the first cornerstone in a process to evolve the International Bill of Rights. The International Bill of Rights includes UDHR, ICCPR and ICESCR. The three together forms International Bill of Rights out of which the UN General Assembly had to wait another two decades for the last two to become effective. The two International covenants were adopted in 1966 codifying the two sets of rights mentioned in the Universal Declaration. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Covenants on social Economic and Cultural Rights came into force in 1976.