Universal Charter of the Duties and Obligations of Human Beings
“So let us, ordinary citizens, take the word and the initiative. With the same vehemence and force with which we claim our rights, let us also claim the duty of our duties. Maybe the world can start to become a little better”, said José Saramago in one of his Speeches in Stockholm, when he presented the Nobel Prize for Literature to the Portuguese writer, in 1998.
Based on the appeal he left us, the UNAM (Autonomous University of Mexico) and the José Saramago Foundation (FJS) in 2015 convened specialists in various areas to discuss, in Mexico City, a proposal for a Universal Charter of Duties and Obligations of Beings Human Rights, a complementary document to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
After years of work, several meetings and the adhesion of different institutions and citizens, in 2018 the document was presented to different UN Commissions and handed over to its Secretary General, António Guterres.
Once translated into other languages, the Universal Charter of Duties and Obligations of Human Beings is ready to be disseminated. The goal now is for it to be widely known, to receive maximum support from people and institutions, and to become a document with legal force.