b. Vienna World Conference on Human Rights – 1993
On 14 June 1993, representatives of the international community gathered in unprecedented numbers for two weeks in Vienna to discuss human rights. The World Conference reviewed the development of human rights standards, the structure of human rights frameworks and examined ways to further advance respect for human rights. Members from 171 States, with the partici- pation of some 7,000 delegates including academics, treaty bodies, national institutions and representatives of more than 800 non-governmental organi- zations, adopted by consensus the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. In light of the high degree of support for and consensus from the Conference, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action can be per- ceived as a forceful common plan for strengthening human rights work throughout the world.

The contents of the Declaration
The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action marked the culmination of a long process of review of and debate on the status of the human rights machinery worldwide. It also marked the beginning of a renewed effort to strengthen and further implement the body of human rights instruments that had been painstakingly constructed on the foundation of the Universal Dec- laration of Human Rights since 1948. Significantly, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action:
• reaffirmed the human rights principles that had evolved over the past 45 years and called for the further strengthening of the foundation for ensur- ing continued progress in the area of  human rights;
• reaffirmed the universality of human rights and the international commit- ment to the implementation of  human rights;
• proclaimed that democracy, development and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms as interdependent and mutually reinforcing.
The Conference agenda also included examination of the link between devel- opment, democracy and economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights, and an evaluation of the effectiveness of United Nations methods and mechanisms for protecting human rights as a means of recommending actions likely to ensure adequate financial and other resources for United Nations human rights activities.
The final document agreed to in Vienna was endorsed by the forty-eighth ses- sion of  the General Assembly (resolution 48/121, of 1993).