Human rights in East Asia
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was implemented on 10 December 1948 by the United Nations. Therefore, we have officially witnessed 68 years of the United Nations approaching human rights issues on a global scale. The declaration was created after the end of World War II and was the first worldwide acknowledgement of the rights each individual human being is entitled to. When the UDHR was first created the United Nations was only made up of 51 member states, but after the surge of decolonisation’s, beginning in the late 1940s, the UN is now made up of 193 nations. Since 1948, many Eastern Asian countries who were formally colonised have since achieved independence and have joined the UN, therefore acknowledging the UDHR and other major human rights treaties. There is currently no human rights body governing the Eastern Asian region, however the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) issued the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration in 2012.
Rights and Humanity
Rights and Humanity was founded by Professor Julia Häusermann MBE in 1986. Established as an international not-for-profit association under Swiss law, Rights and Humanity is multi-faith and multi-cultural by philosophy, composition and action. Its premise is that international human rights law and the principles of humanity - the values shared across faiths and cultures - together provide a legal framework and moral compass for global action for progress. Its unique approach is holistic, cooperative, solutions-oriented and champions progress rather than blame. It puts people and planet at the centre of policy and action, prompting an ethic of cooperation for the common good. The association’s effective positive approach has attracted the global patronage of people of great eminence. In 2003, our Patrons and other global leaders signed ‘The Rights and Humanity Principles of Responsibility’ – the first multi-faith, multi-cultural consensus on individual responsibilities.