2023 marked the 75th anniversary of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Universal Declaration articulates an inspiring vision of a world that is just, equitable, tolerant, and strategically focused on actions to address the most vulnerable and marginalised populations—a counterpoint to the atrocities, repression, and colonialism that characterised much of the 20th century. Endorsement of the Universal Declaration was not commensurate with reality in many cases—especially because numerous signatories still had colonies and because Cold War politics resulted in divisions of social, economic, and political rights into separate international covenants—but it nevertheless inspired decades of progress. The Universal Declaration helped to support important, if partial, retreats of colonialism (with 17 formerly colonised African countries gaining independence in 1960 alone), to enable growing recognition of the rights of women, girls, and gender minorities, and to drive a decline in the annual number of war deaths in the second half of the 20th century
