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Workers’ rights and global trade: case studies from Vietnam and Bangladesh

Human rights: how are they governed?

What are basic human rights, why do they vary across nations and how are they governed at an international level?

Syrian children in a refugee camp in Eidomeni, Greece, 2015

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948. It is a statement by countries around the world on what is required for human beings to live with dignity and respect.

The process of creating the UDHR was difficult, and although voices from different cultures and traditions helped shape it, the process was far from universally inclusive. In order to help draft it, the then American First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt hosted some unusual tea parties, with guests that included (among others) a Lebanese professor, a Chinese philosopher, a French legal expert and a Russian diplomat. It was one of many ways in which Roosevelt tackled diplomacy differently from her male counterparts, and it paid off.

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Workers’ rights and global trade: case studies from Vietnam and Bangladesh

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