Today is International Human Rights Day, held annually to celebrate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Many of the fundamental human rights – including the right to housing, to health and to an adequate standard of living – are also important social determinants of health and a core part of the research and policy work of the Wellesley Institute. We join with people around the world in honouring the important role that the progressive realization of human rights plays in creating healthy and equitable communities. Canadians have a special reason for cheering – the principal drafter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and a man considered to be the “Father” of the modern human rights system – is the Canadian legal scholar John Peters Humphrey.