UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday called for collective action to uphold human rights.

In a message on Human Rights Day, Ban said that the challenges of ensuring human rights today are as daunting as those 60 years ago, when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted following the World War II.

"Today, the Declaration remains a core part of the UN's very identity," Ban said.

"On this Human Rights Day, it is my hope that we will all act on our collective responsibility to uphold the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration," he said.

"We can only honor the towering vision of that inspiring document when its principles are fully applied everywhere, for everyone," he added.

(Xinhua News Agency December 11, 2008)