Leisure and human rights: the World Leisure Organization Charter for Leisure: past, present and future

This paper introduces the recent revision of the WLO Charter for Leisure. It presents the background and underlying reasons for the revision, positions the Charter in the global human rights system, and examines its potentially significant role in leisure policy, research and practice. References are made to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which includes leisure-related rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), one of the treaties which provide the legal framework for the UDHR. Attention is drawn to a range of supporting materials provided on a leisure rights portal on the WLO website, which can be utilized to further promote the idea of leisure rights. The revision of the Charter for Leisure is seen as a beginning of a process aiming to promote the idea of leisure rights and contribute to research, debate and education surrounding this significant issue.