The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on 10 December 1948. The Declaration was the result of the experience of the Second World War, when at the end of that war, and with the creation of the United Nations, the international community vowed never again to allow such atrocities experienced in the conflict to happen again.

World leaders agreed to complement the UN Charter with a road map to guarantee the rights of every individual everywhere. The document they considered would later become the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was taken up at the first session of the General Assembly in 1946.[1]

[1] United Nations, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, History, http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/history.shtml, viewed 18 August 2015