This article is part of a series sponsored by the Fund for Global Human Rights, an organization working to strengthen human rights around the world by finding and funding the most effective human rights activists.

Seventy-five years after it was adopted by the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights remains a powerful tool to make the world a better place.

But activists on the front lines are facing more threats than ever before—and we need to listen to them to understand how to adapt.

We asked colleagues and allies around the world, “What is needed to realize human rights 75 years after the Declaration?”

Video Transcript:

Narrator: After World War II the United Nations adopted a Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The UDHR outlines 30 fundamental rights and freedoms that should be universally afforded to everybody. The document outlines our right to equality, to free expression, to education and to decent living standards. That document is the foundation of the modern human rights movement, and those principles enshrined in international law have inspired brave, grassroots activists to transform our world. But now, 75 years later, states and international institutions are failing to deliver on the full promise of the UDHR.

Gabriela Bucher, President and CEO, Fund for Global Human Rights: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has enormous power and potential to make the world a better place. And activists across the last 75 years have made enormous progress, but the world is an increasingly hostile and difficult place for many of them working on the front lines. So for the declaration to really come to its full potential, we need to have a bold vision and to really support the front lines so that they can really fight for our collective rights.

Narrator: As we reach this milestone moment for our movement, we asked colleagues and allies around the world what is needed to realize human rights 75 years after the declaration, this is what they told us.

Activist 1: Governments around the world are using a common playbook of repressive tools and tactics for human rights under the guise of national security. But we have to ask, has all this talk of national security really made us safer? To realize human rights today, we need to broaden the conversation to think about what it would take to truly make everyone safe and to ensure that those who fight for our rights aren't threatened with violence and criminalization in the name of security.

Activist 2: The climate crisis is an existential emergency. Corporate interests have put profits before people or the planet, deepening existing inequalities. Communities in the global south who bear the least responsibility for causing climate change are already among those most severely impacted by the crisis. We believe there can be no human rights without climate justice, and no climate justice without human rights. It is essential that we work together with communities on the front lines of the climate crisis to put in place people centered solutions for a sustainable future and a just transition to clean energy.

Activist 3: Our current economic system is fueling inequality and undermining human rights. The global economy incentivizes bad behavior and rewards greed while ignoring the basic needs of so many. Power and wealth are increasingly concentrated in the hands of the privileged few. We believe that economic justice is central to human rights, to end inequality, we must radically reimagine our failing economic system to work toward the well being, safety, and needs of everyone.

Activist 4: Grassroots activists, organizations, and movements are critical to realizing our rights across the globe, local leaders are on the front lines of the fight for fundamental freedoms. It is vital that their voices are centered in shaping the policies and practices that affect their lives. But to win change, movements need flexible funding and partnerships based on trust and solidarity. Private donors, governments, and businesses, can help to truly shift power to sustain the work of activists and ultimately to benefit the global majority.

Activist 5: The world is changing. So too is human rights activism. Youth led movements are pioneering innovative, creative ways to advocate for their rights. Artists, playwrights and filmmakers are using their craft to elevate new voices, and technology is opening new doors for the human rights movement. We believe in experimenting and in taking bold risks by investing in innovation, we can help foster the next generation of world changing human rights activists.

Gabriela Bucher: As we mark this important milestone of our movement, we're calling on governments, on states, on the international community, on donors, to recommit to the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. So let us build a truly global movement for humanity, for equality, for dignity, where we all recommit to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and we will stand a much better chance of achieving more in 75 years.

Read the full article about what is needed to realize human rights by Fund for Global Human Rights at Fund for Global Human Rights.