The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in U.S. Domestic and Foreign Policy

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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in U.S. Domestic and Foreign Policy
You are a ten year old girl living in Uganda. Your clothes are filthy, and you haven’t eaten in two days. You’re currently hiding under a rusty piece of scrap metal from those people- the ones who go around collecting children sometimes younger than yourself to fight. You’ve heard stories about the other children that have been taken- stories of drugs, rape, and abuse. You’ve heard of children the same age as yourself being drugged and sent out to fight for their lives or turned into sex slaves for military officials. Everyone you know is gone, and there is no one there to save you. All you want is someone you can depend on. All you want is for someone to help.
This is not just an imaginary horror story. It’s the grisly reality for thousands of children throughout developing countries such as Uganda, Nigeria, Sudan, and Somalia, among others. The plight of the child soldier is not often publicly recognized. They are often "invisible", as are the many other innocent victims of human rights violations throughout the developing countries of the world.
Many of the human rights identified by the United Nations in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are fundamental to the wellbeing of every human being in every country worldwide. Several such rights included in the Declaration include, among many others, “the right to life, liberty and security of person,... [the right to equality] before the law and [entitlement] without any discrimination to equal protection of the law [and] against any discrimination.” (“Universal Declaration”). While the United States cannot dictate the way the governments of other countries control their citizens, it is crucial t...

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...4. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. .
This is an op-ed by Doug Bandow, a writer for CATO Institute's At Liberty about the reasons why the United States should not get involved in conflicts in other countries. I chose to include it in order to give examples of the opposing opinion.
"The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UDHR, Declaration of Human Rights, Human Rights Declaration, Human Rights Charter, The Un and Human Rights." UN News Center. UN. 10 Dec. 1948. Web. 01 Apr. 2014. .
This is a document adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations as a declaration by which to measure and ensure global human rights. I chose to include this to provide examples of rights that are fundamental to the wellbeing of every human being in every country worldwide.

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