Philippines, United Nations Officially Launch the Joint Program on Human Rights
L-R: United Nations Resident Coordinator in the Philippines Gustavo Gonzalez, Secretary of Justice Menardo Guevarra, and Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. are the signatories of the UN Joint Program on Human Rights (UNJP) (DFA-OPCD Photo by Philip Fernandez)
PASAY CITY, 23 July 2021 – The Philippine Government and the United Nations have formally launched the UN Joint Program: Technical Cooperation and Capacity-building for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in the Philippines (2021 – 2024) (UNJP), following the signing of the UNJP document by Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr., Secretary of Justice Menardo Guevarra, and UN Resident Coordinator in the Philippines Gustavo Gonzalez at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Pasay City on 22 July 2021.
The UNJP document outlines the strategies, targets, indicators, and governance mechanism of the cooperation, and was developed following a series of intensive consultations between Philippine government agencies and participating UN organizations.
Secretary Guevarra, who is the Philippine co-Chair of the Steering Committee of the UNJP, hailed the Program as a “historic event and the first of its kind in the Philippines”. He emphasized that the UNJP is “a manifestation of the sincere and genuine commitment of the Philippine Government to infuse a human rights dimension in its law enforcement and investigative work.”
The signing ceremony was witnessed by Chairperson Jose Luis Martin Gascon of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Deputy Chief of Mission Richard Sisson of the Embassy of Australia, Chargé d’Affaires Rafael de Bustamante Tello of the Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines, and Undersecretary Severo Catura of the Presidential Human Rights Committee Secretariat (PHRCS).
The UNJP implements the Human Rights Council (HRC) 45/33 resolution “Technical cooperation and capacity-building for the promotion and protection of human rights in the Philippines” co-initiated by the Philippines and Iceland and adopted by consensus on 7 October 2020. It is aimed at further strengthening national institutions and supporting the Philippines in its continued fulfilment of its international human rights obligations, in a spirit of partnership, trust-building, and constructive engagement.
Activities under the Joint Program relate to human rights-based approaches on countering terrorism; strengthening the conduct of investigations and filing of appropriate administrative and/or criminal charges on human rights violations; provision of treatment and care services for persons who use drugs (PWUDs); and establishment of a national referral pathway to address human rights concerns using appropriate domestic mechanisms, among others.
The implementing agencies of the UNJP are the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Presidential Human Rights Committee Secretariat (PHRCS), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), the Department of Health (DOH), the Anti-Terrorism Council-Program Management Center (ATC-PMC), and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).
Participating UN organizations are the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the UN Office on Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The UNJP also closely engages the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and civil society partners as part of an inclusive process. END