然而，世界人权宣言还是向前迈进了一大步。 当时，除了苏联集团国家、沙特阿拉伯以及实行种族隔离制度的南非弃权以外，世界各国政府没有一个投票反对，一致同意人权应该高于国家权力。
Yet the Universal Declaration marked a giant step forward, as the world’s governments – with abstentions from the Soviet bloc states, Saudi Arabia, and apartheid South Africa, but with no votes in opposition – agreed that rights should take precedence over state power.