Topic 1: An Introduction to Human Rights

In the midst of World War II humanity was surpassed by degrading human behaviours and practices, questioned values and ideals that had been respected for centuries, while the end of the war left humanity speechless in front of the level of committed atrocities and in a state of shock as to how far inhumanity can reach.  A major need emerged that demanded the collaboration of all States, in an effort to adverse the consequences of World War II and to prevent a similar future disaster. As such, in 1948, under the guidance of Eleanor Roosevelt, the United Nations formed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) (https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/), a historic human rights document. Despite the fact that UDHR is an excellent document that prescribes the universality, inalienability and indivisibility for human rights, its non-binding character led to the formation of two Covenants: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/cescr.aspx).