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international

Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Adopted in 1948, in the shadow of the Second
World War, the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights is one of the UN’s enduring legacies.
Drafted by a commission chaired by Eleanor
Roosevelt, it set out, for the first time, a common
standard of fundamental rights and freedoms.

Roosevelt, presenting the declaration to the
General Assembly, captured its importance:
“We stand today at the threshold of a great event,
both in the life of the United Nations and in
the life of mankind. This Declaration may well
become the international Magna Carta for all
men everywhere.”
Nelson Mandela
Global Development Agendas
Beyond conflict resolution, the UN has been
a driver of social and economic development.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),
launched in 2000, mobilized governments and
organizations to reduce extreme poverty, expand
access to primary education, and improve health
outcomes. Millions were lifted out of poverty
and child mortality rates declined sharply.

Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General at the time,
underlined their significance:
“The Millennium Development Goals helped
lift more than one billion people out of extreme
poverty and reduced child deaths by half. This is
one of the greatest anti-poverty achievements in
history.”

Climate and the Environment
Perhaps the most pressing global challenge today Eleanor Roosevelt
is climate change, and here too the UN has been Halfdan Mahler
central in shaping solutions. The 1987 Montreal
Protocol on ozone-depleting substances,
brokered under UN auspices, is widely hailed as
the most successful environmental treaty ever
signed. It phased out harmful chemicals, and
scientists now predict the ozone layer will fully
recover within decades.

In more recent years, the UN facilitated the Paris
Agreement in 2015, the first universal accord
binding nearly every country to limit global
warming and pursue climate resilience.

Former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres
reflected on its importance:
“The Paris Agreement is a triumph of

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