In this podcast episode, we feature Eleanor Roosevelt delivering a speech about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights shortly after World War Two. With the rampant disregard for human life and dignity leading up to and during World War Two, world leaders agreed to clearly affirm the rights of individuals wherever they lived.
In April 1946, Eleanor Roosevelt became the first chairperson of the preliminary United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Roosevelt remained chairperson when the Commission was established on a permanent basis in January 1947. She played an instrumental role, along with others, in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Eleanor spoke in favor of the Declaration, calling it "the international Magna Carta of all men everywhere" in a speech on the night of September 28, 1948. The Declaration was adopted by the General Assembly on December 10, 1948.