HR conference ‘Owing human Rights for a Better World’ concludes

Islamabad : Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission of Pakistan, Sartaj Aziz on Wednesday urged the Federal Ministry of Human Rights (MoHR) to establish a cell for monitoring the implementation and reporting of seven core international human rights convention ratified by the country.

He was speaking at the concluding session of the first ever three-day International Conference on Human Rights (HR) titled, ‘Owing human Rights for a Better World’ organised by the Federal Ministry of Human Rights. Deputy Chairman Sartaj Aziz also urged for establishing a legal aid cell to facilitate the victims of human rights violations.

He said that with the active role of the parliament and strong support of civil society, there has been valuable addition of new legislations especially on the rights of women, minorities and children in past 10 years besides urging for enhanced cooperation among government, civil society and international partners.

He ensured that the ideas and recommendations emerging from the conference will assist the government in further strengthening the implementation of Action Plan for Human Rights approved by the government in February 2016.

In her concluding remarks, Federal Secretary for Ministry of Human Rights Rabiya Javeri Agha thanked all participants for their valuable inputs. She said that the cause of human rights unites all sections of the society.

“The Government of Pakistan is cognisant of its duties in the realm of human rights. Legislation and policy initiatives, presenting and defending international treaty reports, the set-up of human rights institutions from federal to grassroots level, national action plans and financial inclusion strategies, electoral reforms, gender budgeting and the provision of social nets are some of the manifestations of this commitment.”

Earlier, at inaugural session, said Federal Minister for Human Rights Mumtaz Ahmed Tarar said that Protection of fundamental human rights is vital for sustainable development, peace and prosperity. The Federal Minister said the conference is an excellent opportunity for sharing experiences, highlighting success stories and to strengthen partnership for human rights. He said that constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan obligates the state to guarantee Fundamental Human Rights to all its citizens without any discrimination and Pakistan has ratified all significant International Human Rights Conventions.

In the concluding day sessions on ‘Right to Development’ and ‘Role of Development Planning in Pakistan to Promote Right to Development: Past, Present and Future,’ the speakers extensively discussed different dimensions of human rights centric development.

United Nations Resident Coordinator Neil Buhne said Pakistan’s Parliament was the first to endorse sustainable development goals and has taken lead in the implementation of core international treaties in the region. He said that under Sustainable Development Goals, the prime focus is to reach people who are left behind in the development.

Former Governor State Bank of Pakistan Dr Ishrat Hussain said that the best development model to ensure prosperity is the model that is the combination of state-centred, private-oriented and civil society-driven models.

He suggested third party evaluation of government projects by the civil society and utilization of the skills of retired bureaucrats for planning and implementations of development plans with human rights perspective. He also stressed for homogenization of provincial and federal budgets.

Member Social Section Ministry of Planning, Development and Social Reforms Asma Haider suggested engaging and strengthening local government terming it the only way to move towards participatory development.

Sania Nishtar, representative World Health Organisation stressed on balance between population and resources, strong intuitions and improve public-private partnership for better service delivery.

Dr. Abid Sulehri, Executive Director Sustainable Development Policy Institute, (SDPI) asked for trusting in the wisdom of community rather than in forcing your own thesis on them as they are living in the situation and knew problems in depth.

A representative of International Labour Organisation, Ingrid Christensen Pakistan ratified all core convention on human rights. She appreciated Pakistan’s performance but also identified a number of challenges like gender gap, customary practices, patriarchal society etc that is creating hurdles in achieving the set goals.

Former Governor State Bank of Pakistan Dr Ishrat Hussain suggested third party evaluation of government projects by the civil society and utilization of the skills of retired bureaucrats for planning and implementations of development plans with human rights perspective. He also stressed for homogenization of provincial and federal budgets.

Representative of UN Working Group on Right to Development Zamir Akram said that there is a dire need for International cooperation for peace and development. He further added that environment degradation, absence of good governance, are major challenges which needed to be addressed on priority.

Member Social Section Ministry of Planning, Development and Social Reforms Asma Haider suggested engaging and strengthening local government terming it the only way to move towards participatory development.

She said that she is very hopeful because of the recent steps taken by the government. "I can see that Pakistan's economic development policy is people-centric, there is ownership of SDG's, strengthening of BISP by consecutive governments, legislation against hate speech, health cards schemes-all are strong signs of improvement." She stressed for balanced planned approach towards development and strong and said that strong and fair law and judicial system is vital for people-centric development.

The speakers urged for collaborative efforts to end human rights violations at the concluding day of The three-day conference titled “Owning Human Rights for a Better World” is part of government’s efforts to join international community in celebration of 70th Universal Declaration of Human Rights by reaffirming its national commitment to protect inalienable human rights.

The conference which started with one minute silence for Human Rights activist Asma Jahangir, was 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 organisations, NGOs, INGOs, academia and the media. Delegates from around the world discussed and highlighted key areas which needed to be focused for welfare and protection of human rights.

The conference 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 objective of selecting 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.