The General Assembly of the United Nations established the human
rights prizes in 1966 (Recommendation C of GA resolution
2217(XXI), 19 December 1966) in the lead-up to the International
Year for Human Rights and the twentieth anniversary of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1968. In that
recommendation, the General Assembly envisaged the prizes as one
of the measures to honour and commend people and organisations
who have made an outstanding contribution to the promotion and
protection of the human rights embodied in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and in other United Nations human
rights instruments. The General Assembly first awarded the prize
on 10 December1968, and thereafter in 1973, 1978, 1988, 1993 and
1998 (refer to attached list of recipients). It is always
awarded on this date, following the decision of the General
Assembly on 4 th December 1950 (resolution 423(v)) to declare 10
December as Human Rights Day, to both celebrate the proclamation
of the Universal Declaration, and t