HOW SAFE ARE HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE WORLD? 12 INVESTIGATE THE DATA Where do human rights stand 70 years after the UDHR?
In December 2018 the UDHR celebrated its 70th anniversary. Here we will look back at its legacy and forward to the challenges, ongoing and new, that it faces. Read the information below and answer the questions that follow.
Causes for celebration
• Since 1948, 18 treaties and other recommendations advancing human rights have been agreed.
• In 1948, the death penalty was banned in only nine countries; now it is 104. • In 1948, women could vote in just 91 countries; now it is 198. • Today, 57% of countries have an official national human rights organisation.
• Freedom of information laws (which give ordinary citizens the right to access information held by the government) now exist in 111 countries.
• The UDHR holds the Guinness World Record as the most translated document in the world; it now exists in 500 languages so that people everywhere can understand their human rights.
