The Human Rights Council (HRC) is a supranational organ of the United Nations (UN), which focuses on the “promotion and protection of Human Rights around the globe.” The HRC serves as a useful platform for countries and voluntary associations, such as the Commonwealth, to engage in meaningful dialogue with regard to human rights around the world. In order to facilitate such dialogue, it is important to educate stakeholders about the UN, its mechanisms and the various pledges and obligations that countries have voluntarily committed to, so that they are aware of the standard to which their performance should be pegged.
Enter, the Easier Said Than Done (ESTD) report.
Since 2007, the ESTD report has been produced by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) to evaluate the performance of Commonwealth member states at the Human Rights Council (HRC), and to highlight the opportunity for the Commonwealth and its member states to re-elect on and improve their human rights record. This year’s report, the 11th edition, was prepared by CHRI’s International Advocacy and Programming (IAP) department of CHRI, led by research officers, Aditi Patil and Sarthak Roy, and their team: Chinmay Panigrahi, Catia Trevasani and Aditya Bhattacharya.
For the first time since its inception, the ESTD report was launched in New Delhi, India at the OP Jindal Auditorium on 21 June 2019. This report covered the 40th session of the HRC and analysed the performance of 11 Commonwealth countries elected to the council:Australia,Bangladesh,Cameroon,India,Nigeria,Fiji,Pakistan,Rwanda, South Africa,the Bahamas,and the United Kingdom.
Aside from the launch of the report, the event featured presentations from the authors of the report, as well as panel discussions on the key findings, and India’s presence at the HRC. The 40th session saw the introduction of Fiji at the HRC, marking the first election of a Pacific Island country to the council. Commenting on the milestone, H.E Yogesh Punja, High Commissioner of Fiji, noted that reports such as the ESTD were fundamental for enabling effective and objective dialogues between countries to further the protection of human rights.
Several other eminent diplomats, senior government officials, activists and human rights defenders also attended the event, such as: Mr. Muchkund Dubey, former Ambassador and former Indian Foreign Secretary; Ms. Yukiko Koyama, Senior Protection Officer, UNHCR India; Mr. Jawad Ali, Counsellor, High Commission of Pakistan to India; Mr. Micyo Rutishisha, Second Counsellor, Rwandan High Commission, Ms. Pallavi Nayek, Direct Aid Program Administrator with the Australian High Commission, and Ms. Friederike Tschampa, a representative from the European Union.
When the topic of the discussion shifted to India’s human rights conditions, there were lively contributions from the distinguished panellists, each of whom reiterated the universality and indivisibility of human rights.
Mr Paul Divakar, General Secretary, National Campaign of Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), said that inter-generational labelling had to be addressed at the grass-roots. Discussing the nature of identity politics and its role in rising divisiveness in the country, Mr Divakar added that there was no place for discrimination based on caste, gender or sexuality, in a meritocratic society.
Mr. TCA Rangachari (IFS, retired), former Amabassador to Algeria, France, Germany and India’s Permanent Mission to the UN New York, raised some concerns about India’s economic ability to follow through on its commitments at the international standard.
With the successful launch of the ESTD report at the 40th session of the HRC, and with the 41st session already underway, CHRI hopes that such reports will not only raise awareness among Commonwealth nations, but also spur the formulation of effective measures for the protection of human rights, at both the state and international levels.
Aditya Bhattacharya
July 3, 2019
source https://indiaoutbound.org/premier-launch-of-chris-estd-report-in-india/
No comments:
Post a Comment