Eleanor Roosevelt and the United Nations

“I believed the United Nations to be the one hope for a peaceful world. I knew that my husband had placed great importance on the establishment of this worldorganization. So I felt a great sense of responsibility.”

When Franklin Roosevelt passed away on April 12, 1945, Eleanor Roosevelt declared to reporters that the story had come to an end. However, Harry Truman, the new American president, had other plans. In December 1945, he approached her with an invitation to be a part of the United States delegation to the first United Nations General Assembly, which was to be held in London in January 1946.

Initially hesitant due to her lack of experience in international meetings, she eventually resolved to join the delegation. Thus, she accepted Truman's offer and became the first woman to represent the United States as a delegate to the United Nations.

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The remainder of the American delegation was uncertain about how to handle Roosevelt. They decided to assign her to Committee 3, which focused on humanitarian, economic, and cultural issues, instead of one of the other committees that dealt with what they believed to be more important political, financial, and legal matters. Eleanor Roosevelt believed that she was relegated to Committee 3 because the men in the delegation expected her to have minimal impact.

However, these men had misjudged Eleanor Roosevelt's abilities. On Committee 3, she demonstrated her typical resourcefulness and effectiveness. Her considerable diplomatic and rhetorical skills enabled her to secure the right of self-determination for war refugees who faced the peril of compulsory repatriation to their home nations. Her reputation for hard work and skillful debate led to her appointment as the United States representative on the newly established UN Human Rights Commission. She later stated that her work on the Human Rights Commission was her most significant responsibility.

Eleanor Roosevelt was elected as the chairperson of the Human Rights Commission by her fellow members, and she worked diligently to expedite the committee's work. The committee decided to concentrate on creating an international bill of rights that the General Assembly could adopt as a declaration. Roosevelt was determined to lead her committee effectively, even amidst contentious debates over the definition and scope of human rights, and frequently found herself in conflict with the Soviet representative.

At the core of the Commission's discourse was defining the type of human rights and liberties that should be guaranteed to the global population during the latter half of the twentieth century. Roosevelt desired the declaration to encompass fundamental principles of individual liberty akin to the United States Bill of Rights, while ensuring that it was composed in a manner that was sensitive and acceptable to all religions, cultures, and ideologies. Additionally, she emphasized that the declaration's language should be concise and straightforward so that everyone could comprehend it.

The outcome of the Human Rights Commission's work was the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which establishes the standard that all nations must uphold for the treatment of their citizens. This declaration is the benchmark by which our current understanding of human rights and human dignity is measured, and its provisions apply equally to men, women, and children.

The Declaration builds upon the principles of the Four Freedoms and the Atlantic Charter, and it enshrines the right to opinion and expression, the freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, and the rights to life, liberty, and security.

However, the most noteworthy and forward-thinking aspect of the Declaration is its recognition of economic rights. These rights form the foundation of our understanding of human security, and they include the right to work and the freedom to choose employment, the right to equal pay for equal work, the right to a decent standard of living that enables access to adequate food, clothing, housing, and medical care for oneself and one's family, the right to social security during periods of unemployment, disability, or old age, the right to education, and the right to participate in and enjoy cultural arts and sciences.

Eleanor Roosevelt was elected as the chairperson of the Human Rights Commission by her fellow members, and she worked diligently to expedite the committee's work. The committee decided to concentrate on creating an international bill of rights that the General Assembly could adopt as a declaration. Roosevelt was determined to lead her committee effectively, even amidst contentious debates over the definition and scope of human rights, and frequently found herself in conflict with the Soviet representative.

At the core of the Commission's discourse was defining the type of human rights and liberties that should be guaranteed to the global population during the latter half of the twentieth century. Roosevelt desired the declaration to encompass fundamental principles of individual liberty akin to the United States Bill of Rights, while ensuring that it was composed in a manner that was sensitive and acceptable to all religions, cultures, and ideologies. Additionally, she emphasized that the declaration's language should be concise and straightforward so that everyone could comprehend it.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948, with a vote of 48 in favor, no votes against, and only eight abstentions. The assembly gave Eleanor Roosevelt a standing ovation, acknowledging her instrumental role in the creation of the Declaration. In March 1953, Roosevelt returned to the United Nations and delivered impromptu remarks on the significance of human rights.

She emphasized that the foundation of universal human rights begins in small, local communities such as neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces, where every individual seeks equal justice, opportunity, and dignity without discrimination. Roosevelt urged citizens to take concerted action to uphold these rights, emphasizing that progress in the larger world depends on the protection of human rights close to home.

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