The
UNIVERSAL
DECLARATION OF
HUMAN RIGHTS
something to think about
1 ALL HUMAN BEINGS
ARE BORN FREE AND EQUAL in dignity
and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should
act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. 2 EVERYONE is entitled
to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this declaration, without distinction of any kind,
such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political,
jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent,
trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty. 3 Everyone HAS THE RIGHT TO LIFE,
liberty and security of person. 4 No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in
all their forms. 5 No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 6 Everyone has
the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law. 7 All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination
to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal PROTECTION AGAINST ANY DISCRIMINATION in violation
of this declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination. 8 Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national
tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law. 9 No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest,
detention or exile. 10 Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair AND public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination
of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him. 11 Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right TO BE PRESUMED
INNOCENT UNTIL PROVED GUILTY according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international
law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was
committed. 12 No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and
reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks. 13 Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and
residence within the borders of each state. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. 14 Everyone has the
right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from
non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations. 15 Everyone has the right to a nationality. No one shall be
arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality. 16 Men and women of full age, WITHOUT ANY LIMITATION
DUE TO RACE, NATIONALITY OR RELIGION, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to
marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses. The family
is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State. 17 Everyone has the right to own property
alone as well as in association with others. NO ONE SHALL BE arbitrarily DEPRIVED OF his property. 18 Everyone has the right to
FREEDOM OF THOUGHT, CONSCIENCE AND RELIGION; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and
freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and
observance. 19 Everyone has the right to freedom of OPINION AND EXPRESSION; this right includes freedom to hold opinions
without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. 20 Everyone has the
PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY AND ASSOCIATION. No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
right to freedom of
21 EVERYONE HAS THE RIGHT TO take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country. The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this
will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by
equivalent free voting procedures. 22 Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to SOCIAL SECURITY and is entitled to realization,
through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the
economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality. 23 Everyone has the
right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. Everyone who works has the right to just and
favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if
necessary, by other means of social protection. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of
his interests. 24 Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic
holidays with pay. 25 Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being of himself and of
his family, including FOOD, CLOTHING, HOUSING and MEDICAL CARE and necessary social
services, and the right to SECURITY in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or
other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care
and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
26 Everyone has the right to EDUCATION. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental
stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally
available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit. Education shall be directed to
the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups,
AND shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of
peace. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given
to their children. 27 Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of
the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in c advancement and its
ts. Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests
resulting from any c, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.
28 Everyone is entitled to A SOCIAL AND INTERNATIONAL ORDER
IN WHICH the RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS set forth in this declaration
CAN BE FULLY REALIZED. 29 EVERYONE HAS DUTIES TO
THE COMMUNITY in which alone the free and full development of his
personality is possible. In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be
FOR THE
subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely
PURPOSE OF SECURING due recognition and RESPECT FOR THE
RIGHTS and freedoms OF OTHERS and of meeting the just requirements of
morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society. These rights and
freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United
Nations. 30 Nothing in this declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group
or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction
of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.
Adopted by the United Nations on 10 December 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights sets out the rights and freedoms to which every
human being is entitled. The Declaration represents a commitment by the international community to uphold the values of human dignity, justice,
equality, fairness and respect. It has been translated into over 360 languages and has inspired people all over the world. Find out more about the
UNIVERSAL
DECLARATION
OF HUMAN
Declaration and your human rights at: www.una.org.uk/learnabouthumanrights or www.gsdrc.org/go/topic-guides/human-rights
www.una.org.uk RIGHTS Dignity and justice for all of us www.dfid.gov.uk
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