On 6 December 2019, the National Human Rights Consciousness Week (NHRCW) will formally open with an interagency solidarity program at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Central Office in Quezon City. The activity aims to re-affirm the commitment, shared efforts, and plans to uphold human rights of the members of the National Committee for the NHRCW. This year’s theme is dubbed “Youth standing up for human rights” to celebrate the contribution and promise of young people who are active agents for better change.

In her message, CHR Commissioner Gwendolyn Pimentel-Gana underscored the importance of government agencies as duty bearers in creating an enabling environment for the realization of human rights of all. Further, she stressed the importance of engaging with the youth to drive change.

“We in the government can take the first step to engage with the youth to come up with solutions and to encourage their participation in shaping the agenda, while ensuring that they can claim and exercise their rights freely and without fear”, she said.

The National Committee is chaired by the Commission on Human Rights and co-chaired by the Civil Service Commission. The member agencies include the Department of Education, Department of Justice Department of National Defense, Department of Internal and Local Government, Department of Foreign Affairs, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine Navy, Philippine Marine Corps, Philippine National Police, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development. Three civil society organizations are also part of the national namely Women in Development Foundation, Inc., Lente, and the International Visitor Leadership Program.

Human rights services fair and concert to celebrate human rights

A series of activities is slated to happen during the week-long celebration for human rights. The kick-off will showcase the Human Rights Services Fair at the CHR Central Office. CHR Executive Director, Atty. Jacqueline de Guia invites the public to visit the fair to show support for human rights.

“Government agencies will install booths to bring their services to the public. The fair also includes social enterprise bazaars featuring local products of farmers, artists, non-government organizations, and community-based livelihood programs for the benefit of the families of victims of human rights violations”, she explained.

Aside from the fair, each member of the National Committee for the NHRCW will also conduct activities that will highlight how they fulfil human rights in line with their respective services and functions.

The week-long celebration will culminate on 10 December 2019, which is the anniversary day of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and celebrated as the International Human Rights Day.

The culmination will be highlighted with a Human Rights Concert dubbed “Alab ng Puso” organized by various artists. The concert will revive the clamor of human rights advocates to address pressing human rights issues such as the development of Kaliwa Dam in Quezon, state of teenage pregnancy, housing inadequacy, violence against women, and extra-judicial killings. Admission to the concert is free. It will be held at the Liwasang Diokno in CHR Central Office at 6 PM to 11 PM.

Goods, crafts, and foods made by the human rights community and members of society’s vulnerable sectors can also be enjoyed at the Human Rights Bazaar, which will be open in the same venue during the entire Human Rights Day.

The Human Rights Week is observed every 4-10 December 2019 as declared in Republic Act 9201. The celebration aims to make the people aware of their basic human rights in relation to the functions and services offered by various government agencies and instrumentalities.