Conferentie 7/8 oktober: 60 jaar Universele verklaring van rechten van de mens (en)
IP/08/1468
Brussels, 7 October 2008
Conference « 60 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: The defenders take the floor» Sixty years ago, on 10 December, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations solemnly proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. On 7-8 October, 2008, a major conference organised by the European Commission, the European Parliament and the United Nations will mark this anniversary and aim at reaffirming and illustrating the scope of the Universal Declaration through the work of human rights defenders. This event underlines that the respect of human rights is a necessary condition to attain key policy objectives: build democracy, promote sustainable and human development and prevent armed conflicts.
In welcoming the conference, Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner i said: “Human rights defenders are central to promoting democracy and respect for human rights in their own society. They pursue their work despite the risks for themselves and sometimes their families. They are indispensable allies in our joint efforts to support democratic change and to improve the human rights' record around the globe. This conference will further contribute to further improving protection and support to human rights defenders worldwide."
This conference unites human rights defenders from more than 40 countries, leading representatives of international human rights organisations, the European Commission and the European Parliament. Among the main speakers are Jacques Barrot i, Vice-president of the European Commission, Navanethem Pillay, the newly appointed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Hans-Gert Pöttering i, President of the European Parliament and Margaret Sekaggya, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.
The Brussels conference will be an occasion to:
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-review the support mechanisms that have been developed by the UN, the EU and the Council of Europe in favour of human rights defenders.
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-discuss ways of improving the coordination and cooperation among the different international institutions and civil society organisations active in the support to human rights defenders.
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-underline the importance of freedom of expression as a pillar of the human rights system and highlight the crucial contribution of journalists to the defence of human rights. It will also examine how to enhance the protection of journalists defending human rights.
In the spirit of the Universal Declaration of human rights the conference thus aims at assessing the situation of human rights defenders around the world and highlighting the decisive role of civil society.
More information:
http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/human_rights/defenders/index_en.htm