Eleanor Roosevelt's address to the UN General Assembly in 1948

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (10 December 1948 at Palais de Chaillot, Paris). The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled. It consists of 30 articles which have been elaborated in subsequent international treaties, regional human rights instruments, national constitutions and laws. Eleanor Roosevelt was a delegate to the UN General Assembly from 1945 and 1952, a job for which she was appointed by President Harry S. Truman and confirmed by the United States Senate. During her time at the United Nations she chaired the committee that drafted and approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

You are going to listen to an extract from her historic address to the United Nations General Assembly on the Adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Listen and fill in the gaps with the right words. You can click the 'hint' or 'clue' buttons for help, but remember some points will be taken off your final score.

We stand today at the of a great event both in the life of the United Nations and in the life of . This Universal Declaration of Human Rights may well become the international Magna Carta of all men everywhere. We hope its proclamation by the General Assembly will be an event to the proclamation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man by the French people in 1789, the of the Bill of Rights by the people of the United States, and the of declarations at different times in other countries.
At a time when there are so many on which we find it difficult to reach a common basis of agreement, it is a significant fact that 58 states have found such a large measure of agreement in the complex field of human rights. This must be taken as of our common aspiration first voiced in the Charter of the United Nations to lift men everywhere to a higher standard of life and to a greater enjoyment of freedom. Man’s desire for peace lies behind this Declaration. The realization that the violation of human rights by Nazi and Fascist countries sowed the seeds of the last world war has supplied the impetus for the work which brings us to the moment of here today.
This Declaration is based upon the fact that man must have freedom in which to develop his full and through common effort to raise the level of human dignity. We have much to do to fully achieve and to assure the rights set forth in this Declaration. But having them put before us with the moral backing of 58 nations will be a great step .
As we here bring to fruition our labors on this Declaration of Human Rights, we must at the same time rededicate ourselves to the unfinished task which lies before us. We can now move on with new and inspiration to the completion of an international covenant on human rights and of measures for the implementation of human rights.
In , I feel that I cannot do better than to repeat the call to action by Secretary Marshall in his opening to this Assembly:
Let this third regular session of the General Assembly approve by an
majority the Declaration of Human Rights as a
standard of conduct for all; and let us, as Members of the United
Nations, of our own short-comings and imperfections, join
our effort in good faith to live up to this high standard.