This year is the 30th anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (Vienna Declaration) adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights held by the United Nations in Vienna, Austria.
At present, humans are at a historical crossroads. Global human rights governance is facing severe challenges and governance deficits are becoming prominent. Regional conflicts, arms races, terrorism, cybersecurity threats, climate change, food insecurity, energy crises and global poverty are posing increasing challenges to protecting human rights. The North-South gap between developed and developing countries, inequality among countries and uneven development have not been addressed, and hegemonism and unilateralism are greatly impacting global human rights governance.
The Vienna Declaration, adopted in the aftermath of the Cold War, draws the experience and lessons from global human rights governance since the founding of the UN in 1945. It states that all human rights are interdependent and indivisible, and the