The Philippines today said it will continue pushing for a rights-based approach in the Association of Southeast Asian Nation’s (ASEAN) as it convened the final meeting of the regional grouping’s human rights commission under its chairmanship.
“The Philippines has always been at the forefront of strengthening a rights-based approach in ASEAN,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano said in a statement released by the Department of Foreign Affairs.
“While the promotion and protection of human rights should not be politicized, it is essential that we continue to work to make human rights central to the ASEAN agenda,” Secretary Cayetano said after he was briefed on the outcome of the 25th meeting of the ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) that was held in Bohol from 26 to 27 November.
Chaired by Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Leo Herrera-Lim, the meeting brought together the ten ASEAN Member State representatives and the ASEAN Secretariat to review the progress of the implementation of the human rights priority programs and activities 2014-2017.
“I commend the AICHR for the excellent work it has done throughout the Philippine Chairmanship in promoting and integrating a rights-based approach in the political-security, economic and socio-cultural pillars of ASEAN,” Secretary Cayetano said.
Assistant Secretary Herrera-Lim informed Secretary Cayetano that it was under the Philippine Chairmanship that the AICHR first met with ASEAN Senior Economic Officials to discuss initiatives to promote corporate social responsibility and strengthen human rights practices in the private sector.
“We hope that our interface with the ASEAN’s Economic Community can be held regularly and we can have concrete collaboration with them on how to apply the rights-based approach in the business sector,” Assistant Secretary Herrera-Lim said.
Among the priority areas in the work of the AICHR are promoting the rights of the child, mainstreaming the rights of persons with disabilities in the ASEAN community, the rights of women affected by natural disasters, and the implementation of the ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in Persons (ACTIP), which had recently entered into force.
AICHR will also undertake its first joint project on promoting the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child with CHild Rights Advocacy Asia, a civil society organization (CSO) which has consultative relations with AICHR. This is the first time the AICHR will collaborate with a CSO on a joint project.
The AICHR also discussed and finalized its priority programs for the 2018 cycle. These priority areas include the enhancement of public awareness of human rights among the peoples of ASEAN and promoting capacity building for the effective implementation of international human rights treaty obligations.
AICHR-Philippines also handed over the chairmanship to AICHR-Singapore, which will begin its mandate on January 1st.
The Philippines hosted three AICHR meetings during its Chairmanship. The first meeting was held in Boracay in February 2017. During their second meeting, the Commission met with the ASEAN Foreign Ministers in Manila in August 2017, where the AICHR presented the activities, achievements, and main developments in ASEAN’s efforts to mainstream the human rights agenda in the work of ASEAN. (DFA-PR)
