The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the world’s most translated document. The Uilta language translation is the 385th and most recent, addition to the list of official translations of the Declaration.

On 10 December 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the first document asserting the need to protect the rights of human beings.

In addition to the six official languages of the United Nations – Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish – the document has been translated into a multitude of other languages. Earlier this year it was translated into the Nivkh-language. On September 13, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd. presented a translation of the Declaration in the Uilita language to the public. Uilita and Nivkh are both endangered languages of indigenous peoples of Siberia.

The Uilta people (also known as the Oroks or Orochons) are among Russia’s smallest ethnic minorities, indigenous inhabitants of Sakhalin Island. According to the 2012 census, their total number is 295 people. Their self-designation endonym is Uilta or Uil’ta (“the reindeer people”, from the root Ula “reindeer”.) Their traditional occupations include hunting, fishing and reindeer herding.

The Uilta language is designated by UNESCO as an endangered language. There are only between thirty and forty people left capable of communicating in this language. Before the beginning of the 21st century, this language had no writing system.

The Uilita language translations of the Declaration were done with the financial support of the Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd., in cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) which is responsible for the protection and promotion of human rights worldwide. OHCHR is focused on ensuring compliance with the internationally recognized principles governing human rights.

If you would like further information on the work of OHCHR, please visit their website: www.ohchr.org.

See Also

• More about language translation
  An accurate professional translation can save a patient's life, win a bid, or persuade a shopper to buy your product.
• Uilta-Language Translation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Presented in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk ? the complete press release
  13 September 2012, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd. presented a translation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into the Uilta Language to the public today.
• More about the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
  (OHCHR) is involved in protection and promotion of human rights worldwide. OHCHR is focused on ensuring compliance with the internationally recognized principles governing human rights.
• More about Sakhalin Energy who underwrote the Uilita translation of the Declaration
  Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd. (Sakhalin Energy) is the operator of the Sakhalin-2 project under a Production Sharing Agreement with the Russian Federation.