The declaration of human rights

December tenth 1948 the United Nations declared the basic human rights. Until 1948 there had been no international rules or regulations concerning the rights of the individual. The declaration of human rights deals with civil, political, economic and social rights.

The declaration is not legally binding, but is still of great moral and political importance. This means that a country cannot be directly punished for violating the human rights. The later conventions however, are far more binding. These conventions mostly deal with more specific kinds of rights, such as political or economic rights or with more specific groups of people such as women or children. All countries that ratify these conventions are bound to respect them.

Read more about:

How United Nation started, about the commission of human rights, about the Security Council, the most powerful agency of the United Nations. You can also read about the general structure of the United Nations.