In the 1990's, both the
UN and the
UNESCO sponsored conferences and issued reports, in which the need for a global ethic was taken up.
Even the
World Economic Forum spoke out for a “Declaration of human duties”. In the words of the Forum President Klaus Schwab:
“The notion of fundamental human rights has been with us for a long time, but there is as yet no such broad understanding of the need
for fundamental human duties”.
The VI. Indira Gandhi Conference in Delhi wrote in its final report in 1987: “The time has come to work out commonly
held, universal ethical principles, on which all religions and cultures agree. This could serve as the basis for the formulation
of complementary human duties corresponding to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”.
