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Multiple topics surrounding human rights were discussed at the Forum on Global Human Rights Governance hosted by China, which opened in Beijing on Wednesday with the theme "Equality, Cooperation and Development: The 30th Anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Program of Action and Global Human Rights Governance."
Over 300 prominent guests from nearly 100 countries and international organizations, including United Nations (UN) agencies, attended the forum and discussed challenges of global human rights governance, including different understandings of human rights between the West and other countries, the development gap between the Global South and Global North, regional conflicts, terrorism, refugees, extreme poverty, gender inequality, racial discrimination, climate change and so on.
Human rights experts at the forum called for respect for every country's sovereignty, which includes their development path and political system. They also believe that the concepts of human rights and democracy are universal, but they do not correspond to the Western view of these notions, and that different countries can and should have "various paths" on human rights and democracy.
The forum was jointly hosted by the Information Office of the State Council, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the China International Development Cooperation Agency.
Human rights protection faces rising challenges
Since World War II, two landmark documents have been issued to protect human rights: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action in 1993. Over the past 75 years, human beings have made great achievements in human rights protection. People's livelihoods have greatly improved with increasing wealth and rising life expectancy. Studies have shown that human life expectancy has increased from 40 years in the early 20th century to 73 years in 2019, and the figure keeps rising.
"However, at the same time, we must also recognize that there are still many problems and challenges in human rights development," said Lu Guangjin, vice president of China Society for Human Rights Studies and a professor at Jilin University. He cited the large number of refugees caused by regional conflicts, the widening wealth gap, the violence and hate crimes against ethnic minorities intensified by COVID-19, and the global water shortage triggered by climate change.
Former Mongolian Prime Minister Mendsaikhan Enkhsaikhan also shared challenges to protecting women's political rights. He said that due to historical and cultural reasons, gender equality has not been achieved around the world and that ensuring the equal participation of women in politics is not only a human rights issue but is also fundamental to global sustainable development and democracy.
According to a report by the United Nations (UN), the representation of women in parliaments around the world has not made significant progress over the past two decades, with only 24.3 percent of seats held by women as of 2019 and only 6.6 percent of elected heads of state in 152 countries being women as of 2020.
There is no paradigm for human rights
Amid increasing global challenges and even turmoil, many experts expressed concerns about the Western-centric narrative of human rights, which they believe can't meet the dire needs of the Global South in terms of sustainable development.
James Mouangue Kobila, the chairperson of the Cameroon Human Rights Commission, said that though human rights are universal, their content is not. For example, people in Asian and African countries believe national stability, economic development, poverty alleviation, general education, public hygiene improvement and others are human rights, while the West doesn't think the same.
He said that different understandings of human rights may cause prejudice, which may eventually evolve into ideological competition. He suggested that humankind needs to put emphasis on obligation while stressing rights, take the rights of peace into consideration, avoid war and conflicts, and strengthen global cooperation on human rights protection.
Bouthaina Shaaban, an adviser to Syrian President Bashar Assad, opposes applying Western standards of human rights and democracy to all countries, saying there is no paradigm for human rights and countries should not be dominated by the Western human rights and democracy promoted by its mainstream media outlets.
"The West now has taken some very radical and dangerous measures to try to continue its hegemonism in the world, which actually undermines the protection and promotion of human rights," Shaaban said, adding the West is waging war around the world, which has brought huge destruction to human beings and humanity, and made the international society more vulnerable.
At the forum, many experts also acknowledged China's outlook on human rights, noting that it provides new insight into the solution to global human rights challenges.
Christopher Mutsvangwa, former Zimbabwean ambassador to China, applauded China's achievements in the past decades, saying China's rapid development in the past 40 years made great contributions to global development. China explored its own way of development through practice, which provides another choice of modernization for other countries, Mutsvangwa said.
He also expressed gratitude for China's efforts in helping African countries build infrastructure, develop economies and improve public hygiene and education conditions. China has created an innovative path of cooperation with Africa and has been able to implement it with determination to cope with changing times and undertake its new responsibilities in global affairs, he said.
Human rights protection needs global cooperation
The advancement of global human rights causes can only be realized with the combined efforts of all members of the international society. Many participants emphasized this when delivering speeches at the forum.
They also believe that developing countries should be given more support to be involved in global governance and explore paths to promote democracy and the rule of law to advance the healthy development of global human rights governance.
"We should spare no effort to ensure that the people of the world are the main actor, promoter and beneficiary of the cause of human rights," said Saint Cyr Mazangue, commissioner for international cooperation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Central African Republic. He added that major countries must take responsibility in this regard.
While addressing the severe challenges of human rights protection, Asraf Ally Caunhye, an expert of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, urged countries to take concrete actions, provide effective frameworks and strengthen internal and international cooperation to address human rights violations.
He suggested that every country should have an action plan that can maximize available resources, and the government should allocate these resources properly to truly safeguard human rights, including the right to food, education, health and a wide range of social services. Governments should also regularly review and strengthen these mechanisms and legal arrangements, Caunhye added.
He also stressed the importance of education, saying it's vital to raise public awareness of human rights and that only with the full participation of the people can a country's human rights policy and action plan be truly implemented.
(CGTN)
