Conference on human rights opens next week

Islamabad: To apprise the internationally community about steps taken by the government of Pakistan to ensure basic human rights, the first ever three-day International Human Rights Conference organised by the Ministry of Human Rights (MoHR) will be inaugurated on February 19.

The conference titled ‘Owning Human Rights for a Better World’ will conclude on February 21. The mega event will be attended by national and foreign delegates including international human rights experts, UN representatives, parliamentarians, government officials, Commissions on Human Rights, diplomats, members of civil society organizations, NGOs, INGOs, academia and the media.

According to the officials of Ministry of Human Rights, the title of the conference, ‘Owning Human Rights for a Better World’, has been selected after thorough consultation of all the stakeholders. Delegates from around the world are expected to discuss and highlight key areas which needed to be focused for welfare and protection of human rights.

The conference will revolve around three themes, “Protecting Women and Children under national and international frameworks”, “Protecting Women and Children under national and international frameworks” and “Development and Human Rights” covering all the vulnerable groups.

“The basic idea for finalizing these themes was that majority of countries have signed international conventions and treaties of Human Rights but still there is a need to establish a framework for implementation to achieve targets especially at grassroots level,” said the source adding that thematic plenary sessions would be arranged for every theme focusing on common challenges facing international community in providing protection of human rights.

The plenary would provide opportunity to various stakeholders to share experiences and good practices with delegates and observers, while there shall be three Working Groups, comprising of delegates and reporters to formulate recommendations and reports. After conclusion of the event, a consolidated Conference Report shall be prepared including policy recommendations.

“Pakistan is among one of the nations which promote human rights within an international legal framework taking numerous progressive steps to safeguard fundamental rights of the people. Besides that, Pakistan possesses strong constitutional structure for human rights as primary source of policy and law while it is signatory to principal international Human Rights treaties and conventions,” said Secretary Ministry of Human Rights Rabiya Javeri Agha.

She said that Pakistan joined international fraternity of people to celebrate 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on December 10 this year. The anniversary marks the adoption of universal principles that established common standards and human rights values for all nations.

“By commemorating the 70th Anniversary of UDHR, nations can assess their challenges and measure progress in human rights, particularly through stronger monitoring systems, implementation mechanisms and collaborative alliances,” said the secretary adding that as member of global community, Pakistan is also deeply affected by political, socio-economic and environmental patterns that adversely impact human rights.

She said that despite all these challenges, National Assembly of Pakistan has passed five bills on the rights of the vulnerable groups last year including “The National Commission on the Rights of the Child Act, 2017,” “The Criminal Laws Amendment) Act, 2017” “The National Commission on “The Status of Women (Amendment) Act, 2017” “National Commission on the Rights of the Child Act, 2017” “The Women in Distress and Detention Fund (Amendment) Act, 2017,” while recently two more bills the Islamabad Capital Territory Child Protection Act,20l8, the Juvenile Justice System Act, 2018 had been passed.

In addition, the National Action Plan on Human Rights, Shelters and Dar-ul-Amaans, Human Rights helpline and plan for National Institute of Human Rights, different kinds of funds, establishment of National Commission on Human Rights, National Commission on the Status of Women and Commission on Child Rights etc are few of the many steps taken by the government to ensure human rights. “All such steps taken by Pakistani government, both at national and provincial level, would be shared at the conference,” said the federal secretary.