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international international

United Nations at 80: Universal Declaration of Human Rights
success stories 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.
worth Drafted by a commission chaired by Eleanor

Roosevelt, it set out, for the first time, a common
standard of fundamental rights and freedoms.
remembering 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
As the United Nations celebrates its 80th electoral monitors, and civilian staff to ensure men everywhere.”
anniversary, the organization stands at a a peaceful transition. Namibia became fully Nelson Mandela
crossroads. It has been criticized for inefficiency, independent in March 1990. Global Development Agendas
bureaucracy, and failure to act decisively in times Beyond conflict resolution, the UN has been
of crisis. Yet, focusing solely on the shortcomings Then–UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez de a driver of social and economic development.
risks obscuring the very real successes that the Cuéllar described the moment as: The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),
UN has delivered over eight decades. At its “A triumph not only for the Namibian people but launched in 2000, mobilized governments and
best, the UN has shown that cooperation across for the principle that the will of a people cannot be organizations to reduce extreme poverty, expand
borders can transform societies, save lives, and denied indefinitely.” access to primary education, and improve health
set global standards. Here are some of the most outcomes. Millions were lifted out of poverty
significant achievements. Eradication of Smallpox and child mortality rates declined sharply.
If ever there was a global success story, it is the
The End of Apartheid in South Africa eradication of smallpox. With the UN’s World Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General at the time,
One of the United Nations’ proudest moments Health Organization leading the charge, a underlined their significance:
came with the dismantling of apartheid. For worldwide vaccination campaign was launched “The Millennium Development Goals helped
years, the UN imposed sanctions, mobilized in the 1960s. By 1980, smallpox was declared lift more than one billion people out of extreme
international pressure, and gave a global voice eradicated—the first human disease ever to be poverty and reduced child deaths by half. This is
to the anti-apartheid movement. Its observer eliminated. one of the greatest anti-poverty achievements in
mission in 1994 supported South Africa’s first history.”
free and democratic elections, where Nelson As WHO Director-General Halfdan Mahler put
Mandela was elected president. it when the eradication was certified: Climate and the Environment
“The world and all its peoples have won freedom Perhaps the most pressing global challenge today
Mandela himself acknowledged the role of the from smallpox — the most devastating disease is climate change, and here too the UN has been Halfdan Mahler Eleanor Roosevelt
UN: since the Black Death.” central in shaping solutions. The 1987 Montreal
“The United Nations played a leading role in the Protocol on ozone-depleting substances,
struggle against apartheid. Without the support of Peacekeeping in Conflict Zones brokered under UN auspices, is widely hailed as
the international community, our freedom would Peacekeeping has often been controversial, but the most successful environmental treaty ever
have come at a much greater cost.” there are undeniable successes. In Cambodia signed. It phased out harmful chemicals, and
in the early 1990s, UN operations helped end
Namibia’s Independence decades of conflict and organized democratic scientists now predict the ozone layer will fully
recover within decades.
Namibia’s path to independence had been long elections. In West Africa, missions in Liberia and
and painful, under South African occupation Sierra Leone brought stability after brutal civil In more recent years, the UN facilitated the Paris
since the First World War. The United Nations wars, allowing war-torn societies to rebuild. Agreement in 2015, the first universal accord
made Namibia’s sovereignty a priority for binding nearly every country to limit global
decades, adopting resolutions and condemning Kofi Annan, who began his UN career in warming and pursue climate resilience.
the illegal occupation. peacekeeping, once said:
“Peacekeeping is not a soldier’s job, but only a
In 1989–1990, the UN Transition Assistance soldier can do it. When it works, it saves countless Former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres
reflected on its importance:
Group (UNTAG) deployed peacekeepers, lives and offers hope where there was none.”
“The Paris Agreement is a triumph of

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