Drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Underexplored Figures and Contexts

In December 2023, The Review of Faith & International Affairs published an issue in honor of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The issue explores the foundations and founding figures of the UDHR, focusing on the unique perspectives and convictions UDHR drafters and other contributors brought to the drafting process. The special issue resulted from a July 2023 workshop sponsored by the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Christ Church, University of Oxford.

The Foundations and Founding Figures of Human Dignity Workshop (26 July 2023, University of Oxford)

This blog series focuses on some of the relatively unexplored UDHR drafters and contexts, shedding light on the moral and philosophical foundations, personal stories, conceptual debates, political concerns, and geopolitical clashes behind the development of the international bill of rights.

Posts in the series:

Kristina Arriaga. Lives on Hyphens: The Transformative Influence of Chilean and Cuban Delegates on Economic and Social Rights Within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Renae Barker. Colonel William Roy Hodgson: Australia’s Forgotten Contributor to the Development of International Human Rights

Paul Martens. The Appeal of Dignity: John Peters Humphrey and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Fearghas O’Beara. Charles Dukes: A Prisoner of Conscience Who Helped Draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Dmytro Vovk. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Soviet Law