1998: Five-Year Review of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action
The 1993 World Conference on Human Rights requested through its final document, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (VDPA), that the Secretary-General of the United Nations “...invite on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights all States, all organs and agencies of the United Nations system related to human rights, to report to him on the progress made in the implementation of the present Declaration and to submit a report to the General Assembly at its fifty-third session, through the Commission on Human Rights and the Economic and Social Council” (VDPA, Part II, paragraph 100). Regional bodies, national human rights institutions, as well as non-governmental organizations, were also invited to present their views to the Secretary-General on the progress made in the implementation of  the VDPA five years later.
In 1998, the General Assembly concluded the review process which had begun in the Commission on Human Rights and the Economic and Social Council earlier in the year. A number of positive developments in the five years since the World Conference were noted, such as progress achieved in human rights on national and international agendas; human rights-oriented changes in national legislation; enhancement of national human rights capaci- ties, including the establishment or strengthening of national human rights institutions and special protection extended to women, children, and vulner- able groups among others and further strengthening of the human rights movement worldwide.
The General Assembly reiterated its commitment to the fulfilment of the VDPA and reaffirmed its value as a guide for national and international human rights efforts and its central role as an international policy document in the field of  human rights.