The United Nations was the first international organization to address the issue of human rights.

The UN Charter, adopted in 1945, contains several references to human rights, and states that human rights are universal, without distinction of any kind such as race, sex, language or religion and national or social origin. 

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed by the General Assembly in 1948, is the only common standard covering the full range of human rights. It is not legally binding but provides guiding principles for all peoples and nations, stating that the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family are the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.  

The United Nations is at work on many fronts in promoting and protecting human rights, and its role and scope of action continue to expand. This is elaborated by the former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in his report The Question of Intervention: "As Secretary-General of the United Nations, I have made human rights a priority in every programme the United Nations launches and in every mission we embark upon. I have done so because the promotion and defence of human rights is at heart of every aspect of our work and every article of our Charter".

There are more than seventy UN bodies involved in the protection and promotion of human rights, so when seeking information, it is essential to have narrowed down and specified the sort of questions you need answered.

The United Nations has developed a system to monitor the implementation of respect for human rights: 

The Human Rights Council is responsible for promoting human rights. It evaluates the fulfilment of all states of all their human rights obligations. The Human Rights Council has inherited the so called "special procedures" from the Commission on Human Rights, It is the general name given to the mechanisms established by the Commission to address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. 

The Commission on Human Rights was mandated to examine, monitor and publicly report on the human rights situation in specific countries or territories. In June 2005 it was replaced by the Human Rights Council. 

There are nine core international human rights treaties. Implementation of eight of these treaties by the State parties is monitored by a committee of experts. 

The High Commissioner for Human Rights has the principal responsibility for UN human rights activities including the coordination of UN human rights activities, the promotion of international cooperation for human rights and the development of new human rights standards. The High Commissioner also responds to serious violations of human rights and undertakes human rights field activities and operations.