The Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County

In our increasingly interconnected world, global health is facing a further challenge—new diseases are emerging at the rate of one per year. Since 1967 at least 39 new pathogens have been identified, including HIV, Ebola fever, Marburg fever, and SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome). Other century-old threats such as pandemic influenza, malaria, TB, continue to pose a threat through a combination of factors such as mutation, rising resistance to antimicrobial medicines, and weak health care systems.

Sixty years ago, in 1948, the General Assembly of the UN adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. On Dec 10, that declaration was reaffirmed as Human Rights Day. This extraordinary document was a response to the horrors of World War 2. It became the first global statement that all human beings have equality and dignity. This document has been translated in more than 360 languages, has inspired the constitutions of many newly formed independent states, has seeded many human rights treaties and instruments, and has inspired the founding of many human rights organizations such as Amnesty International. The Declaration is both a moral guidepost and a practical yardstick to deal with complex actions of governments.