The International Day of Human Rights was observed on December 10 by the international community to commemorate the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the UN General Assembly in 1948. The UDHR sets international standards of human rights in which every individual is entitled to certain fundamental rights, irrespective of his/her class, gender, race, ethnicity, religion and other social divisions. It states in its Article 1 that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”. The principle of universal human rights is enshrined in several international human rights bills and instruments. However, there is a contradictory trend of increasingly pronounced international commitments to human rights, and growing inter-state and intra-state disparities and vulnerabilities around the world. Extremes of wealth and poverty are the hallmarks of the modern world. According to the Global Wealth Report 2013, the top 0.6 per cent of the world population owns 39 per cent of global wealth. Massive vulnerabilities are created along the lines of class, gender, race, ethnicity, religion and other social divisions around the world. Nearly half of the world’s population lives below the poverty line. About 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation services. Around 121 million children in the world do not have access to education, while if only one per cent is spent less on the purchase of armaments worldwide, this should be sufficient to send all children to schools globally.