The mission of Unite for Rights is to unite people, nonprofits, businesses, and governments, to create an International Bill of Rights enforceable in the courts of all countries.
The logo above perfectly represents the mission of Unite for Rights: Linkage. At a time of international fragmentation and rising authoritarianism sweeping Earth, there is a deep-rooted desire within all four of the figures above (“Uniters”) to unite on a better path and create an agreement to live together, based upon fundamental rights for all with the rule of law to enforce them.
To create the world we want rather than the one we have, “it is time to look back to see our way forward”: This insightful phrase was coined by the late Berkeley Law Professor, David Caron.
By looking back to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, (UDHR) – the closest humanity has ever come to evolving into an international community – we can go forward to build an International Bill of Rights upon it.
Unite is an international social movement based on nonviolence. Still, Unite is an assertive movement. It marshals the power each of us has, individually and within nonprofits and businesses, to enlist and pressure governments to join us and create the world we want for ourselves, as well as future generations.
It was the intent of the drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) that it would become an enforceable International Bill of Rights. That is why Article 28 in the UDHR, which was passed unanimously by all countries on December 10, 1948, anticipates that there will be future documents to make the UDHR enforceable.
The major problems of the world, the rise of athoritarianism, poverty, pandemics, discrimination, inequality for women, overpopulation, gross disparities of wealth, along with poor or unaffordable health care and a lack of education, are the result of the intent of Article 28 not being fully realized over the past 75 years.
One reason for this is that the international human rights community has been anemic, focusing too much on incrementalism and reports rather than law and enforcement.
The idea of an International Bill of Rights is not new. U.S. President Truman, at the closing ceremony for the United Nations Charter, in the War Memorial building in San Francisco, said: “The first thing we will do is prepare an International Bill of Rights“.
He then added that the International Bill of Rights would be like the Bill of Rights in America – enforceable in courts. Eleanor Roosevelt, John Humphrey, Rene Cassin, Charles Malik, P.C. Chang, and others, set out to create that International Bill of Rights. Unite’s mission is to bring humanity together to continue down this path.
An international social movement is at the core of Unite’s work. At a time when breakthroughs are being made in the fields of physics and medicine through international cooperation, the same can be done through international cooperation in the field of law.
The movement is for “enforceable human rights.” That is, rights become “juridical,” something that can be presented to a Judge, when they are violated, not just aspirational or something reported about in United Nations meetings.
This means an attorney can stand in a courtroom in any country and ask a Judge to issue an Order enforcing the rights in the International Bill of Rights, and if she issues that Order, it can can be reviewed by courts at the domestic, regional and, infrequently, at the international level.
“The stories we tell create the lives that we lead.” Humanity needs a new “overstory”, to use the insight of the author Malcolm Gladwell. An overarching story that works for all of us on the planet, not just an elite few in one country or another.
Unite’s story leads to well-being instead of war and want, and to an international community. We are not all the same in this community. Diversity florishes with freedom, but in this story, we have an agreement to live together, with courts, not weapons, to resolve disputes when they arise.
Please join us to fulfill this mission by becoming a light on Unite’s spinning globe to show support for an International Bill of Rights, and encourage others to join as well!
If you wish to go further to support an breakthrough with an International Bill of Rights, think about donating to Unite, or becoming an intern or volunteer – we are growing! Unite has a broad mission that seeks broad participation.
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