You Can Make Global Human Rights a Reality

2048 is the story of the most important international social movement in the 21st century: the drafting and implementation of an International Bill of Rights that will be enforceable in the courts of every country on Earth.

Written documents have always played a key part in the evolution of human rights—the Code of Hammurabi, the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence. In 1948 the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but its provisions are not enforceable so its promise remains unfulfilled. It’s time to take the next step. 2048 shows how we can create an agreement that will truly guarantee global human rights and the rule of law and have it in place by the 100th anniversary of the Universal Declaration—a visionary, audacious, but eminently achievable goal. J. Kirk Boyd outlines the freedoms this new document would protect and describes successful international agreements already in place that can serve as models.

But the 2048 Project needs you. “What you do with what you read,” Boyd writes, “is as important as what this book says.” He explains how people in all countries can help shape the document through the 2048 Project website (www.2048.berkeley.edu)—hosted by the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law—and offers practical advice for reaching out and building support step by step so that the International Bill of Rights will become the foundation of an irresistible grassroots movement.