1946年2月16日，面对二战受害者遭受的令人难以置信的侵犯人权行为，联合国成立了一个人权委员会，埃莉诺·罗斯福是其成员之一。埃莉诺·罗斯福在其丈夫富兰克林·罗斯福总统去世后被哈里·杜鲁门总统任命为驻联合国代表。

埃莉诺·罗斯福将她对人类尊严和同情心的长期承诺、她在政治和游说方面的长期经验以及她最近对二战后难民的关注带到委员会。她由委员会成员选举为委员会主席。

对《宣言》发展的贡献

她编写了《世界人权宣言》，编写了部分文本，帮助保持语言的直接和清晰，并注重人的尊严。她还花了很多天游说美国和国际领导人，既反对反对反对者，又试图激发那些对这些想法更友好的人的热情。她这样描述她的项目方法：“我开车很努力，到家后我会很累！委员会的成员也会很累！”

1948年12月10日，联合国大会通过了一项决议，赞同《世界人权宣言》。埃莉诺·罗斯福在大会上的讲话中说：

"We stand today at the threshold of a great event both in the life of the United Nations and in the life of mankind. This declaration may well become the international Magna Carta for all men everywhere. We hope its proclamation by the General Assembly will be an event comparable to the proclamation in 1789 [the French Declaration of the Rights of Citizens], the adoption of the Bill of Rights by the people of the US, and the adoption of comparable declarations at different times in other countries."

为她的努力感到自豪

埃莉诺·罗斯福认为她在《世界人权宣言》方面的工作是她最重要的成就。

"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home—so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world."