A culture of human rights.

• Author: Lasso, Jose Ayala
• Position: UN human rights program

The United Nations, as is the case with so many organizations today, is preparing itself for the challenges and promises of the twenty-first century. Its founders recognized over 50 years ago that, in order for the United Nations to reach its goals of peace and security, development and human rights for all people, each goal would need to be pursued with equal vigour and understood as inextricably linked with the others. The year of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - now less than 12 months away - offers the ideal opportunity to further link human rights to the overall work of the United Nations. It allows us to prove, through the example of the current experience of the United Nations human rights programme, that the understanding of the founders of the United Nations is more important than ever: only by pursuing peace, development and human rights equally will any ultimately be achieved.

The promise which the Universal Declaration of Human Rights symbolized at the time of its adoption today seems more possible than ever. The international community has made substantial progress over the past 50 years in the implementation of human rights concepts through the passage of nearly 50 human rights treaties and the establishment of an international human rights machinery. Yet, the Universal Declaration still serves as the example by which we measure not only our successes and shortcomings, but also the foundation upon which we continue our efforts to make all human rights a reality. As this century quickly passes away, we should not only be proud of the advances made in the protection of human rights in the past 50 years, but also be increasingly aware of what still must be done to ensure that the rights many of us now take for granted are enjoyed by all people.

Human rights are an ever-present, ongoing challenge which must be met again and again. No one can be absolutely sure of their protection from one generation to the next. Even in those places where human rights may seem most secure, the message must continue to be heard. It must not be forgotten, however, that the primary responsibility for the promotion and protection of human rights remains with Governments. United Nations agencies or nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), important as they are, could never replace Governments in the difficult task of ensuring the enjoyment of human rights for all the people of a given State or territory. Support...