Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities

PREAMBLE

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and inalienability of the responsibilities of our human family is a necessary corollary to sustain freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human responsibility has resulted in unsustainable overconsumption of resources and environmental degradation and decreased the quality of human life therein, and has stalled the advent of a world in which human beings shall uphold responsible speech and beliefs, and shall enjoy freedom from fear and want, the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against poverty and oppression, that human responsibility should be explicit in the virtues of society,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of responsible practices within and among nations,

Whereas the peoples of the Earth have in their existence affirmed their duty to fundamental human responsibilities, to the societal obligations of the human person and to the responsibilities of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life by adhering to our greater obligations,

Whereas mankind's Nations have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human responsibilities and fundamental obligations,

Whereas a common understanding of these responsibilities and obligations is of the greatest importance for the full realization of our pledge to the UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS,

Now, Therefore THE PEOPLE OF EARTH proclaim THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RESPONSIBILITIES as a common standard of decency for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for our rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to ensure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of individual States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

Article 1.

• All human beings are born obliged to duty and responsibility. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act together in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2.

• Everyone is obliged to all the responsibilities and obligations set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3.

• Everyone has the responsibility to protect life, liberty and security of all persons.

Article 4.

• No one shall hold another in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5.

• No one shall subject another to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6.

• Everyone has the obligation to recognize each other everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7.

• All are equal before the law and are obliged to seek out, prevent and undo any discrimination that would otherwise prevent equal protection of the law. All are required to promote equal participation toward every responsibility in this Declaration and toward incitement of such participation.

Article 8.

• Everyone has the responsibility to participate in the competent national tribunals when called to serve therein.

Article 9.

• No one shall arbitrarily arrest, detain or exile another.

Article 10.

• Everyone is required to participate in fair and public hearings by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of rights and obligations and of any criminal charge when called to server therein.

Article 11.

• (1) Everyone must presume each other innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense.
• (2) No one shall hold another guilty of any penal offense on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offense, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall anyone impose a heavier penalty than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offense was committed.

Article 12.

• No one shall subject another to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honor and reputation. Everyone has the responsibility to uphold the protection of others against such interference or attacks.

Article 13.

• (1) No one may prevent the movement and residence of another within the borders of each state.
• (2) No one may prevent another from leaving any country, including his own, of from returning to his country.

Article 14.

• (1) Everyone must help each other in seeking and enjoying asylum from prosecution in other countries.
• (2) This responsibility may not apply in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of humanity.

Article 15.

• (1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
• (2) No one shall arbitrarily deprive another of his nationality nor of the right to change his nationality.

Article 16.

• (1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
• (2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
• (3) The family is a natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State. It is the responsibility of every family to maintain a limited and reasonable number of offspring as appropriate in the context of the family's circumstances and ability to provide for those offspring without undue burden on the state and other members of society.

Article 17.

• (1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
• (2) No one shall arbitrarily deprive another of his property.

Article 18.

• Everyone has the obligation to respect others' freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this includes their freedom to change religion or belief, and to permit others, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest their religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19.

• Everyone has the responsibility to ensure unto himself safe and reasonable opinions and expression; this responsibility includes exercise of the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20.

• (1) Everyone has the responsibility to allow and protect peaceful assembly and association.
• (2) No one may compel another to belong to an association.

Article 21.

• (1) No one may restrict another from taking part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
• (2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
• (3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22.

• Everyone, as a member of society, has the responsibility to support the social security of society and is obligated to contribute, in accordance with the needs of his society, realizing that society has provided to him dignity and the free development of his personality in selecting his manner of reasonable contribution.

Article 23.

• (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
• (2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
• (3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
• (4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24.

• Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25.

• (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
• (2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26.

• (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
• (2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
• (3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27.

• (1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
• (2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28.

• Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29.

• (1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
• (2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
• (3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30.

• Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.