Philippines Pledges to Further Strengthen Human Rights and Accountability Mechanisms at Historic UN High-Level Event Marking 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights
GENEVA 15 December 2023 – Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin represented the Philippines at the pledging session of the UN Human Rights 75 High-Level Event commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) held on 11 December 2023 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Executive Secretary Bersamin reaffirmed the Philippines commitment to the principles and ideals embodied in the UDHR and presented the government’s three pledges aimed at further strengthening human rights and accountability mechanisms and, ultimately, the rule of law in the country.
Towards this end, Executive Secretary Bersamin said that 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,” Executive Secretary Bersamin stated.
The UDHR was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 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 (11-12 December 2023) brought together dignitaries from various parts of the world to present tangible and transformative human rights commitments to reinvigorate the UDHR. END
Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin (3rd from left), head of the Philippine Delegation to the Human Rights 75 High-Level Event, together with Mme. Aurora Bagares-Bersamin (2nd from left), Permanent Representative Carlos D. Sorreta (4th from left), OES Assistant Secretary Al-Azree Mohammadsali (5th from left), First Secretary and Consul Luningning G. Camoying (leftmost), and OES Director Naereeza Bainto (rightmost), at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on 11 December 2023. (Geneva PM photo)
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