UNESCO and the Drafting of the UDHR: Navigating Theories and Practices

Abstract

Immediately after its creation in 1945, UNESCO concerned itself with the idea of a unified framework of rights that would give foundation to the new international order. The enterprise it undertook with a great sense of urgency in 1947 in relation with the drafting of the UDHR by the UN Commission on human rights reflected both the natural law philosophy inherited from the European 18th century, and the 20th century’s imperative call for the realization of the socioeconomic rights of all peoples, across the globe, including those still under political and racial oppression and colonial rule.