The mission of Eleanor Lives! is “To carry on Eleanor Roosevelt’s legacy – an international movement for enforceable human rights.”
Here is the mission broken down word for word.
First the name “Eleanor Lives!” Through bringing our international community together to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 2023, and actions thereafter, Eleanor lives on. Eleanor was one of the great leaders of the 20th Century, not just for America, but as “First Lady for the World.” Eleanor Lives! carries on her legacy, including making the rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) enforceable in the courts of all countries.
It was the intent of Eleanor and others that the Universal Declaration would become an enforceable International Bill of Rights. That’s why Article 28 in the UDHR anticipates that there will be future documents to make the UDHR enforceable. The major problems of the world, the rise of athoritarianism, poverty, pandemics, discrimination, inequality for women, overpopulation, gross disparities of wealth, along with poor or unaffordable health care and a lack of education, are the result of the intent of Article 28 not being fully realized over the past 75 years.
The idea of an International Bill of Rights is not new. U.S. President Truman, at the closing ceremony for the United Nations Charter, in the War Memorial building in San Francisco, said: “The first thing we will do is prepare an International Bill of Rights” and he then added that the International Bill would be like the Bill of Rights in America – enforceable in courts. Eleanor and others set out to create that International Bill of Rights. We continue this goal and will host an event in the War Memorial building on December 10, 2023, the 75th anniversary, to celebrate and advance this implementation for the UDHR.
On to an “international movement.” A beautifully written International Bill of Rights will not succeed without an international movement supporting it. As Eleanor’s biographers have said “Eleanor built movements.” Eleanor Lives! continues her movement by uniting people, nonprofits and businesses to celebrate the UDHR and and show their support for the UDHR by taking 30 seconds to become lights on a spinning globe on the Eleanor Live’s website. People can join together through, their phones, schools, libraries, work, anywhere on Earth where there is internet, and by mail where it does not yet exist.
Last, the movement is for “enforceable human rights.” That is, rights become “juridical,” something to be presented to a Judge when they are violated, not just aspirational or something reported about in United Nations meetings. This means an attorney can stand in a courtroom in any country and ask a Judge to issue an Order enforcing the rights in the document, and if she issues that Order, it can can be reviewed at the domestic, regional and, infrequently, at the international level.
The stories we tell the create the lives we lead. Eleanor’s story results in genuinely enforceable human rights in the courts of all countries, to bring well-being instead of war and want to our international community. As Eleanor said “We must do the thing we think we cannot do.” Make rights more than something we claim and talk about. It’s time to make rights something we have and can enforce in courts of law. One person cannot do this, but together we can.
Please join us to fulfill this mission!
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