Research Guides United Nations Office at Geneva Library & Archives

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Official text

"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights..."

Find the UDHR in your language!

The Universal Declaration for Human Rights has been translated into more than 550 languages. Find it in your language, for your country or for your region using a new interface offered by the Library of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The Declaration is also available in six sign languages - English (American), English (UK), languages of the Netherlands, Portuguese, Spanish (Caribbean) and Tetum.

Contact the OHCHR Library for more information:

UDHR adoption by the UN General Assembly

On 10 December 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

What is a "Declaration"?

Find a definition in the UN Treaties glossary:

Secondary sources on the adopted text

The UN Library at Geneva offers access to a large collection of books and articles related to the Declaration, you will find more information in this Guide under "Books and Articles".

UDHR Illustrated Posters

UDHR poster

Exhibition "La déclaration universelle des droits de l'homme: archives 1947-1966"

In 2008 the UN Library at Geneva organized an exhibition in the Palais des Nations (Geneva) about the drafting of the Universal declaration of human rights, and the covenants.

The UN Library and Archives at Geneva selected material available in their collections to illustrate the elaboration of these texts. We invite you to discover the content of the exhibition "La Déclaration universelle des droits de l'homme: archives 1947-1966" in the pdf file above.

UDHR Illustrated

The UN Library at Geneva keeps in its print collection several publications with the text of the Declaration accompanied by illustrations.