The UN on Monday urged world leaders to revive the spirit that led to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 75 years ago, to counter today's widespread oppression and polarisation.

The text adopted after World War II and the Holocaust marked the first time that countries agreed to protect fundamental rights and freedoms on a universal scale, for all people.

"In the ashes of global warfare, it brought hope. To put an end to cycles of bloodshed, it promised justice," said United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk

"It set out the path to peace," he told a gathering celebrating the 75th anniversary of the groundbreaking tract, adopted in Paris on 10 December 1948.

Turk said his thoughts went "to the millions of people suffering unbearably in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, notably in Gaza, and Israel; in Sudan; Ukraine; Myanmar; and so many other places".

"Famine. Oppressive and hateful discrimination. Repression and persecution. Threats to human rights generated by climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss."

"These are profound and interlocking challenges that stem from failure to uphold human rights," Turk told Monday's event at the UN's European headquarters in Geneva.

During the event, which began with a minute of silence for victims of rights violations, Turk said the declaration provided a "guide" to solve the towering challenges we face today.

The declaration, he said, "resonates with the ancient wisdom that connects all human beings".

It drew its inspiration from around the world, he said, including the philosophies of the Enlightenment; Islam's emphasis on human dignity and compassionate sharing; and the demands of the Haitian revolution for an end to enslavement and racist oppression.

Although not legally binding, the declaration stresses the supremacy of individual rights over those of states.  

"The drafters of the Universal Declaration transcended geopolitical clashes and economic differences. 

"They set aside many terrible disputes to achieve this luminous text, which lit the path to peace, justice and freedom," he said.

The 75th anniversary, he said, should be seen as "a call to hope and … action".

"At a time of so little solidarity, and so much divisive and short-sighted vision, I view it as a call to overcome polarisation," he said.

"A call to hark back to the spirit that led every member state to adopt the Universal Declaration; and to base local, national and global decisions, across all areas of policy, on the intrinsic, and equal, value of every human life."