What does the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provide for citizens of the world?
RD: We are marking the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and all that has grown from it—most especially the nine human rights treaties. The Convention of the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) are two of the most important progeny of the UDHR. They are also the two conventions that shape and define most of the human rights work that we are engaged in here at the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW). When I examine each of the human rights treaties in a holistic framework, I see the core values that interrelate and form the overarching themes of all of the human rights norms. These cornerstones are as follows: 1.) equality of all persons; 2.) participation—the participation of all persons including women, children, and persons with disabilities; 3.) indivisibility, which means all of these rights are equal, there is no hierarchy among rights; and lastly, accountability. These treaties ca
