Irving Sarnoff
Irving Sarnoff (above) is Founder and Director of Friends of the United Nations, a tax-exempt, non-governmental organisation founded in 1985 to mobilise support for the United Nations, its agencies and programs. Mr. Sarnoff recently served as Senior Advisor to the U.S. Congressional Commission to Improve the Effectiveness of the United Nations.
t was my privilege to accompany the European Journey for Religious Freedom and to speak about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). In more than 15 cities, I had the opportunity to help educate thousands of people on the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration and the various covenants passed by the United Nations and ratified by almost all nations. Unless these instruments are known by the citizens of the signatory countries, governments will tend to not enforce the provisions securing such freedoms, as the right to practice a religion of choice. In some cases, the government itself will violate the provisions of the very covenants and treaties it has signed.
Popular knowledge and support for the Universal Declaration and other human rights instruments is therefore critical for enforcing those laws.
The European Journey for Religious Freedom was the most far-reaching event in honour of the 50th Anniversary of the UDHR.
In city after city, the participants in the Journey had the opportunity to meet with local government officials and ordinary citizens. We interacted with literally thousands of individuals who had never heard of the Universal Declaration. The media—TV, radio and newspapers—were generally favourable and helped spread our message promoting religious freedom and the UDHR. It was not unusual to encounter people on the street who had heard our message on radio and TV.
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