“In the future days which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.
The first is freedom of speech and expression – everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way – everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want – which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peace time life for its inhabitants – everywhere in the world.
The fourth is freedom from fear – which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor – anywhere in the world.
The is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation.”
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“Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights or keep them. Our strength is in our unity of purpose.
To that high concept there can be no end save victory.”
This was the closing of President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1941 Annual Message to Congress, which became known as the Four Freedoms Speech.
After he died in 1945, his wife Eleanor worked to ensure the legacy of his Four Freedoms lived on. As the chairperson of the United Nations Committee for Human Rights, she fought to have them incorporated into the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Eleanor’s work helped to codify the Four Freedoms on a global stage and established them as a cornerstone of US foreign policy and international relations at large.
The Four Freedoms State Park in New York was completed in 2012. Then United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon highlighted FDR’s instrumental role in the founding of the United Nations and the long-lasting guidance his words provide to this day.
“…we seek to advance peace and security, promote development and uphold human rights around the world. President Roosevelt was driven by a global vision. He understood that an individual’s dreams were not restricted by that individual’s passport. He knew that aspirations could not be confined to national borders. And he believed deeply that leaders everywhere must help people everywhere live those dreams.”
At Whitespace we adhere to the idea that human security is far-reaching and borderless. As leaders, we aspire to do exactly as FDR, Ki-moon, and so many others dreamed; to help people everywhere live their dreams freely. We are dedicated to the mission of making the Four Freedoms attainable in our time, for our generation, and for those that follow. With each project we take on, we keep our goal of advancing human security at the forefront.
If you’d like to talk with us about how you can help advance human security, contact us.
To learn more about what human security means to the Whitespace team, check out our next #WebsiteWednesdays post here.
