Is the Universal Declaration really Universal?

THE 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN General Assembly will be celebrated on December 10. For the first time, a general catalogue of the rights of individuals was made the explicit subject of international standards. The then president of the General Assembly, Australia's 'Doc' Evatt, predicted that "millions of people, men, women and children all over the world, would turn to it for help, guidance and inspiration". The UDHR is the umbrella for the modern international human rights system, comprising general and specific human rights treaties at international and regional levels. All countries have ratified at least one of the UN's human rights treaties; indeed 80% of UN members have ratified four or more. The UDHR is also the basis of constitutional rights guarantees in 90 countries, although it is not yet fully implemented in Australia.