Human Rights and Rights of Peoples

V. Concluding Remarks

Since its establishment fifty years ago the United Nations has gone a long way in efforts to shape principles of justice and international law. Human rights have been a substantial element of those efforts. These efforts cannot be described as a success story but the normative value of the work accomplished is considerable. The United Nations was meant to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations but the Organization also served as a platform and as a catalyst to give content to the rights and aspirations of peoples and individuals. One of the fathers of the United Nations, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who did not live to see the birth of his ideal but who played an essential role in conceiving and laying down the basis of the Organization, regarded his vision outlined in the message of the `Four Freedoms' as a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our time and generation. Now, by the end of the century and at the threshold of a new millennium, the survivors in the former Yugoslavia, in Rwanda and in many other places of the world can only testify that the Rooseveltian vision which is echoed in the International Bill of Human Rights, is a far cry from reality. This shocking reality should, however, not disrupt the determination that such human disasters must be prevented with more vigour. Provided that nations, peoples and individuals are prepared to invest the best of their efforts in the Organization and to defend the principles and purposes it is envisaged to uphold, the United Nations can make a difference.

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