Lighting up the small places.

• Author: Longmire, Linda
• Position: UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The General Assembly proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples of all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance.

- Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

It was that indomitable global citizen, Eleanor Roosevelt, who crafted and championed the Declaration. She was appointed the United States representative to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and was then chosen as its chairperson.

The Commission's task was daunting; it was charged with integrating the world's diverse religions and ideologies in order to articulate a truly universal conception of human rights. Mrs. Roosevelt's invaluable participation helped to bring together two very different conceptions of human rights. Human rights in the West had been understood primarily in terms of the political and civil rights that were at the core of the liberal tradition, This strand of thought had evolved through Locke, Jefferson and other Enlightenment thinkers. But the East, particularly the Soviet Union, felt that this interpretation of human rights was severely limited in failing to recognize the importance of economic and social rights, such as full employment, adequate housing, decent health care and social security, all of which were so central to Marxist thought. Eleanor Roosevelt understood the value of both of these approaches, and she worked diligently to mediate the differences in these human rights paradigms and strategies.

In order to provide a truly universal definition of human rights, the document also needed to incorporate the world's diverse religions and moral systems. The Chinese wanted to include Confucian and other Eastern wisdom, while Catholics argued for the inclusion of the moral and philosophical views of Thomas Aquinas. It was a formidable assignment, even with the help of scholars such as P. C. Chang of China, Dr. Charles Malik of Lebanon and Dr. John Humphrey of Canada.

Though she felt humbled by the assignment, Eleanor Roosevelt led the way in addressing this philosophical and cultural challenge. She recognized that her perspective as a global citizen - as someone who could understand and...