Background

The Declaration was born in the aftermath of the World War II. With the end of the anti-Fascist war, the power of the masses fighting against discrimination and inequality was strengthened.​​​​

Child survivors of the Auschwitz concentration camp stand near the fence just before being liberated by the Red Army.
PAP/ITAR-TASS, 1945.

The "Contest to Cut Down 100 People" embodies the brutality of the Imperial Japanese Army.
Shinju Sato, 12 December 1937.​​​​​​​

However, only a few articles of the United Nations Charter referred to human rights, and therefore it was deemed necessary to create a universal declaration that specified the rights of individuals so as to fulfill the Charter's provisions on human rights.