Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (1960)
Editor’s Note: Adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 14, 1960, this declaration was largely considered a watershed in the movement towards the end of colonialism. Eighty nine member states voted to approve the declaration; none opposed it, though there were nine abstentions, including the U.S. Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries […]
The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions — 1848, Seneca Falls Conference, Women’s Rights
Editor’s Note: With the Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776 as its model, the driving forces behind this declaration – which demands the recognition of women as rights-bearing citizens — was Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, anti-slavery and women’s rights activists. The declaration was issued at a convention for women’s rights held in Seneca Falls, […]
Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1959)
Editor’s Note: Approved by all 78 member states of the United Nations, this declaration is a first in the formal global agreement on children’s rights and the principles on which they are based. This declaration is a follow-on to the unprecedented 1924 declaration by the League of Nations (see image) endowing children the world over with […]
Faith Leaders’ Universal Declaration Against Slavery (2014)
Editor’s Note: This declaration, issued on December 2, 2014 , and signed at the Vatican by eleven leaders of many of the world’s major religions, aims to put an end to all modern manifestations of slavery, was galvanized by the Global Freedom Network. Pope Francis, in signing the document, noted that, Despite the great efforts of […]
African National Congress Freedom Charter (1955)
Editor’s Note: On June 26, 1955, in Kliptown, South Africa, a ‘people’s congress,’ with several thousand attending, adopted this Charter — effectively a declaration (and it says so in the opening sentence) that calls for a non-racial democratic nation in which human rights, labor rights land reform are a centerpiece. While the ruling white South […]
