The San Francisco Bay Area
Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Unity Foundation President, Bill McCarthy, and Julianne Traylor from Amnesty International were asked to Co-Chair the 50th Anniversary Committee. During the year-long celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Dec. 10, 1997 - Dec. 10, 1998), Unity Foundation produced or co-produced these special events and educational programs:

• The Opening Commemoration and Ceremonial Reading of the Preamble and 30 Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
  
  
• The 10th Annual Digital Be-In: Celebrating Human Rights in Cyberspace featuring special musical guest George Clinton;
  
  
• An Evening to Celebrate the Role Models of Human Rights and Nonviolence: honoring Dr. Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi,
  (whose grandson, Dr. Arun Gandhi, gave the keynote address)
  
  
• Unity '98: Celebrating Racial Harmony in San Francisco commemorated the one-year anniversary of President Clinton's Initiative on Race and embraced the cultural diversity of the Mission District of San Francisco;
  
  
• The 50th Anniversary Human Rights Hearing for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Communities of San Francisco, hosted by the SF Board of Supervisors' president-elect, Tom Ammiano, and dedicated to the memory of Matthew Shepard; and
  
  
• The Closing Celebration of the 50th Year Anniversary.

On December 10, 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations. The Assembly called upon all UN Member Nations to publicly support and distribute this proclamation and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded ... without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories."