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b. Vienna World Conference on Human Rights – 1993
On 14 June 1993, representatives of the international community gathered in unprecedented numbers for two weeks in
Vienna to discuss human rights. The World Conference reviewed the development of human rights standards, the
structure of human rights frameworks and examined ways to further advance respect for human rights. Members from
171 States, with the partici- pation of some 7,000 delegates including academics, treaty bodies, national
institutions and representatives of more than 800 non-governmental organi- zations, adopted by consensus the Vienna
Declaration and Programme of Action. In light of the high degree of support for and consensus from the Conference,
the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action can be per- ceived as a forceful common plan for strengthening human
rights work throughout the world.
The contents of the Declaration
The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action marked the culmination of a long process of review of and debate on
the status of the human rights machinery worldwide. It also marked the beginning of a renewed effort to strengthen
and further implement the body of human rights instruments that had been painstakingly constructed on the
foundation of the Universal Dec- laration of Human Rights since 1948. Significantly, the Vienna Declaration and
Programme of Action:
• reaffirmed the human rights principles that had evolved over the past 45 years and called for the further
strengthening of the foundation for ensur- ing continued progress in the area of human rights;
• reaffirmed the universality of human rights and the international commit- ment to the implementation of
human rights;
• proclaimed that democracy, development and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms as interdependent
and mutually reinforcing.
The Conference agenda also included examination of the link between devel- opment, democracy and economic, social,
cultural, civil and political rights, and an evaluation of the effectiveness of United Nations methods and
mechanisms for protecting human rights as a means of recommending actions likely to ensure adequate financial and
other resources for United Nations human rights activities.
The final document agreed to in Vienna was endorsed by the forty-eighth ses- sion of the General Assembly
(resolution 48/121, of 1993).
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