Human rights declaration 60 years old

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Wednesday marked the 60th anniversary of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, said activists who urged more be done.

Adoption of the declaration was championed in 1948 by Eleanor Roosevelt, a former U.S. first lady and U.N. delegate who campaigned for all people to be free from torture, slavery, poverty, homelessness and other forms of oppression, The Voice of America reported.

The declaration has emboldened and strengthened human rights campaigns around the world, but much remains to be done, said Larry Cox, director of Amnesty International USA.

Too many countries -- developed and developing -- continue to violate the declaration's provisions, said Peggy Hicks, global advocacy director of Human Rights Watch.

"A good common-day example of that is in Zimbabwe, where the humanitarian crisis and the human rights crisis are inextricably interlinked," Hicks said.