PH reaffirms pledges to strengthen human rights
THE Philippines has reaffirmed its commitment to the principles and ideals embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and presented the government’s three pledges to strengthen human rights and accountability mechanisms and the rule of law in the country.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin represented the Philippines at the pledging session of the UN Human Rights 75 High-Level Event commemorating the 75th anniversary of the UDHR last Dec. 11 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Bersamin said the Philippines is committed to pursuing comprehensive justice sector reforms, including the establishment of a training institute for forensic science and investigation, to scale up forensics capability and competence of law enforcement and justice authorities based on the Minnesota Protocol.
Second, a Human Rights Coordinating Council will be created to sustain current initiatives under the six workstreams of the United Nations Joint Program (UNJP) on human rights, which will end in August 2024.
The UNJP is a three-year technical cooperation and capacity-building program entered into by the Philippines with the UN to promote a human rights-based approach to drug control and counter-terrorism, among others.
And third, the Philippines will adopt its fourth National Human Rights Action Plan encompassing emerging human rights issues, such as climate justice and the rights of older persons among others.
“The plan is a blueprint for embracing the most vulnerable in peaceful, prosperous and humane communities that uphold the highest expression of human dignity,” the Executive Secretary stated.
The UDHR was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on Dec. 10, 1948 in Paris, France in the aftermath of the Second World War.
It enshrines the universality and indivisibility of human rights and has been the blueprint for human rights regime building over the past seven decades.
The two-day High-Level event brought together dignitaries from various parts of the world to present tangible and transformative human rights commitments to reinvigorate the UDHR.
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