Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary

Requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to continue to coordinate the preparations for the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,1 bearing in mind the provisions set out in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action2 for evaluation and follow-up;

Invites Governments to review and assess the progress that has been made in the field of human rights since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to identify obstacles and ways in which they can be overcome to achieve progress in this area, to undertake additional efforts and to develop programmes of education and information, with a view to disseminating the text of the Declaration and arriving at a better understanding of the universal message;

Invites the human rights treaty bodies to give appropriate attention, within their mandates and methods of work, to the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration and to reflect on their possible contribution to the preparations;

Calls upon the relevant United Nations organs and agencies, in coordination with the High Commissioner, to mark the anniversary by intensifying their own contributions to United Nations system-wide efforts to promote and protect human rights;

Invites non-governmental organizations and national institutions to participate fully in the preparations for the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration, to intensify their campaign for greater understanding and better use of the Declaration and to communicate their observations and recommendations to the High Commissioner;

Requests the Secretary-General to include in the proposed programme budget for the biennium 1998-1999 appropriate activities to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration;