On November 16-17, 2023, more than 200 political and civic leaders from forty countries met in New York City for the 5th Transatlantic Summit.
PRI’s Carlos Polo, the Director of our Ibero-American office covering Latin America, was there.
The group, convened by the Political Network for Values and meeting at the New York headquarters of the United Nations, had gathered in support the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on the 75th anniversary of its adoption in 1948.
The result of their gathering the “New York Commitment 75,” a demand that the UN and the world follow the original principles of the Universal Declaration and stop inventing new “rights” to things like abortion and transgenderism.
“We are here to recover the original sense of the 1948 agreement,” said Network President José Antonio Kast. “We must return to a focus on the dignity of the human person and, from there, guarantee his or her fundamental rights. It is precisely here, at the United Nations, that our voice must be heard. We claim the basic principles that inspired the UDHR. And they are timeless and transcendent principles.”
The “New York Commitment 75” has several goals: to create and strengthen a global partnership for human rights and fundamental freedoms; to nourish a culture conducive to family formation and stability; to protect children, both before and after birth; and to respect the freedom of parents and legal guardians to provide for the religious and moral education of their children in accordance with their own convictions.
The “Commitment” advocates the promotion of respect for the many religious and ethical values, cultural backgrounds, and philosophical convictions of the peoples of the world, highlighting the sovereignty of States in matters that lie within their domestic jurisdiction.
The “New York Commitment 75” is an expression of a growing global movement that rejects attempts by radical leftist groups to hijack the Universal Declaration to promote their own ideological causes. The constant inventing of new “rights” that contradict the original scope and spirit of the Universal Declaration must stop.
So-called “Abortion rights,” “LGTBI rights,” “trans rights”, “ecological rights,” and “animal rights” represent attempts by cultural Marxists to twist the words of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights into unrecognizable states.
These efforts constitute a direct assault on international law. Like any treaty, the UDHR must be understood and interpreted in the spirit agreed upon by its signatories at the time of its adoption.
Subsequent “interpretations” asserted in defiance of that spirit should be thrown away with yesterday’s trash. They make a mockery of the UDHR and undermine the international rule of law in general.
“We are many,” proclaimed Kast. “And we are very active in the social, political, and cultural spheres. While we believe that dialogue is always possible, it is our duty to remind those who forget, or oppose those who want to distort, of the original meaning of the UDHR.”
The event was organized by Political Network for Values (PNfV) and its partner organizations, including Population Research Institute, the Heritage Foundation, the Center for Fundamental Rights, the Foundation for a Civic Hungary, the Global Center for Human Rights, the International Centre on Sexual Exploitation, Family Watch International, C-Fam, ADF International, the Institute for Women’s Health, the International Organization for the Family, and the Talenting Group.
For years, the Population Research Institute has been an active participant in the efforts of Political Network for Values. Carlos Polo and Dr. Carlos Beltramo, PRI’s directors for Ibero-America and Europe, respectively, are members of its Committee of Experts.
Our common goal: the promotion and defense of life, family, and freedom.
