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PHNOMH PENH (14 December, 2021) – Protection of human rights in the midst of a global pandemic that has revealed the vulnerability of social services in Cambodia – and elsewhere – must be redoubled, an audience at this year’s Human Rights Day heard.
The UN Human Rights Cambodia office organized a celebration at the French Institute on 10 December, the 73rd anniversary since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly, that brought together Cambodia’s rights holders, NGOs, UN partners and ambassadors.
The global theme of this year’s Human Rights Day was equality – “All human, all equal”, with a specific focus on areas of youth, gender, income and health equality.
Young people perform tableaux vivants to demonstrate the ideal of equality during speeches at the UN Human Rights Cambodia office Human Rights Day event. UN Photo/Amanda Fisher.
Cambodian Human Rights Committee President His Excellency Keo Remy delivered a speech focusing on the “interlocking principles” of human rights, equality and justice that give society dignity and peace.
“Every Khmer citizen should be equal before the law, enjoying the same rights, freedoms and fulfilling the same obligations regardless of race, colour, language, religious belief, political tendency, birth origin, social status, wealth or other status.”
UN Human Rights Cambodia country representative Pradeep Wagle told the select audience of about 60 people during one of the speeches at the event, which also featured performances by talented young Cambodian circus performers, singers and dancers, how the COVID-19 – and the failure to invest in preparing for a pandemic – would reverberate “for generations to come”.
“Many…deaths have happened needlessly – to people who weren’t able or didn’t know how to get timely, life-saving medical treatment. COVID-19 has laid bare health inequity. It has revealed the vulnerability of social and healthcare services in Cambodia. It has also pushed thousands of families back into the same poverty that they had only recently clawed their way out of,” Wagle said.
UN Human Rights Cambodia country representative Pradeep Wagle speaks to an audience at the French Institute on Human Rights Day 2021. UN Photo/Amanda Fisher.
UN Cambodia Resident Coordinator Pauline Tamesis’s speech focused on youth equality.
She reflected on the future of climate change, growing global inequality and accelerating threats in the digital sphere that faced today’s young people.
“As a leader and a mother I ask myself this question all the time: ‘Is this the life we adults created and want to leave behind us?’. These young rights holders could be the "no future generation", if we do not stand back up for the human rights of children and young people.”
UN Resident Coordinator Pauline Tamesis (middle) watches as young people partake in a workshop on the meaning of equality in governance. UN Photo/Amanda Fisher.
EU Ambassador Carmen Moreno asked the audience to reflect on the state of the post-World War II world at the time the Universal Declaration for Human Rights was signed – and to think about where we are today.
“Life may be better in so many ways than it was 73 years ago, with better healthcare, better education, and better standards of living. But the world faces continual threats to this progress. We must never stop pushing for a better, safer and more fair world for us all.”
Meanwhile, Head of the Swedish Development Cooperation in Cambodia Camilla Ottosson called for a “renewed social contract” to protect dignity, lives, livelihoods and rights of women and girls in a speech promoting gender equality.
“We cannot exercise our right to create a better world if we continue to live in societies with the status quo, with old-fashioned gender stereotypes, that are limited by male domination,and driven by self-interest.”
Young people perform tableaux vivants to demonstrate the ideal of equality during speeches at the UN Human Rights Cambodia office Human Rights Day event. UN Photo/Amanda Fisher.
In closing remarks, Wagle outlined the need for a ‘human rights economy’ that put society’s most poor and vulnerable at the centre of national development plans.
“We speak of structural change where a graduated taxation approach and coherent social welfare system protects the most vulnerable in society and gives every person alive the opportunity for a meaningful and dignified life as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“It means that we collectively plumb the depths of the vast ocean of human potential to do the right thing by the planet and its people, without discrimination.”
A young participant brainstorms ideas on what equality in governance means during the UN Human Rights Cambodia country office Human Rights Day 2021 activities. UN Photo/Amanda Fisher.
The day began with a youth workshop on the meaning of equality in governance and concluded with a circus show by NGO Phare Ponleu Selpak. A silent auction of paintings by Cambodian artists that were painted last Human Rights Day was also launched, including one by art co-founder Srey Bandaul who died from COVID-19 earlier this year. The auction has so far raised more than $3000, and climbing, with proceeds going back to Phare to continue Bandaul’s work.
The silent auction continues until December 31 and paintings can be viewed and bidded on here: https://phare.oph.hk/. This event was made possible through the generous support of the Embassy of Sweden Section Office in Phnom Penh; the Delegation of the European Union to Cambodia; and l'Institut français du Cambodge.
Young people perform a scene to demonstrate the importance of equality in access of education at the UN Human Rights Cambodia Human Rights Day 2021 event. UN Photo/Amanda Fisher.
Youth participants in a workshop on equality in governance at the UN Human Rights Cambodia Human Rights Day 2021 event. UN Photo/Amanda Fisher.
Members of the Phare Ponleu Selpak circus troupe perform at the UN Human Rights Cambodia Human Rights Day 2021 event. UN Photo/Amanda Fisher.
