ISLAMABAD  -  Experts at a discussion event have highlighted the International Human Rights System and Mech­anism and called for civ­il society organizations’ vibrant role in creating awareness on this subject.

The event titled “Ex­ploring the Global Framework for Human Rights and Its Opera­tional Mechanisms” was jointly organized by AwazCDS-Pakistan and Pakistan Development Alliance here on Tues­day in order to enhance awareness of interna­tional human rights sys­tems and mechanism.

This event gave partic­ipants a valuable oppor­tunity to gain a deeper understanding of inter­national human rights systems and mecha­nism with the context of human rights situa­tion in Pakistan. Speak­ers and experts in the field guided participants through a series of dis­cussions, enabling par­ticipants to gain a deep­er understanding of this important topic whose importance has been in­creased manifolds in re­cent times.

Chief Executive Awaz CDS Pakistan Zia ur Reh­man shared the context of the introductory ses­sion. He shared that the purpose of this initiative is to bring the civil society back to the human rights-based approaches and agendas while imparting their services to the peo­ple of Pakistan and across the globe. He highlighted that according to the Pa­kistan Civic Space Moni­tor 2022 the civic spaces, freedom of expressions and opinion are critical­ly obstructed and empha­sized the civil society or­ganizations to join hands together for civic rights and freedoms. Christine Chung, South Asia Team Leader, OHCHR, sensi­tized the audience on the terms, procedures and treaty bodies of UN agen­cies and how they carry out the systems for United Nations countries to en­sure the protection of hu­man rights. She highlight­ed the reporting role of Pakistan and the challeng­es. She said “these com­mittees are working with Pakistan to help Pakistan comply with treating ob­ligations. They monitor Pakistan’s compliance with treaty obligations through various ways e,g examining reports from Pakistan government, and report from other stakeholders for real on ground picture”.

She highlighted the role of civil society in clos­er-to-reality reporting of issues. She stressed on the importance of cor­rect reporting so the is­sue is brought to notice for solution and the civ­il society has very impor­tant role in this regard. 

David Murphy, OHCHR Bangkok Office, also shared his knowledge on human rights systems and mechanisms for en­suring peace and justice. He said, 

“We strive to educate civil society and other stakeholders on human rights mechanisms es­pecially during emergency sit­uations such as floods, earth­quake, war situations etc so human rights violations can be minimized and eliminated during those tough times.