The lesser-told stories of the women who are behind international Human Rights Day

Hansa Mehta was one of the few women involved in crafting the Universal Declaration of Human rights, and in the end her biggest impact came from changing one word.

She pushed to replace the phrase: “All men are born free and equal” with “All human beings are born free and equal” in Article 1 of the declaration.

It was 72 years ago that the United Nations General Assembly in Paris adopted the Universal Declaration of Human rights (UDHR).

That’s being marked today by the celebration of International Human Rights Day.

But what many might not know is that several women from different parts of the world helped shape the universal declaration to ensure it promised freedom for all people, regardless of gender.

The UDHR is a milestone document that…