Ambassadors from France, Canada, Germany, and Ireland joined Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator in the Philippines Gustavo Gonzalez in launching the countdown for the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
UN Resident Coordinator in the Philippines Gustavo Gonzalez speaks at the launch of the 75-day countdown to Human Rights Declaration's 75th anniversary in Makati City. (Photo from UN Philippines)
The event on Tuesday, Sept. 26, at the Makati Diamond Residences, was also attended by Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairperson Richard Palpal-latoc.
New French Ambassador to the Philippines Marie Fontanel, who also posted on X (formerly Twitter) a selfie with German Ambassador to the Philippines Andreas Pfaffernoschke during the event, thought it was a “fabulous idea” to have a countdown to the anniversary.
“(The Philippines) had the fabulous idea to launch the countdown: 75 days before the 75th anniversary of the Universal declaration on human rights #UDHR75. Many officials were present including @DOJPH @chrgovph @UNPhilippines (France and Germany) partners always committed and active together for #HumanRights,” she wrote.
(From left) Ambassadors Andreas Pfaffernoschke and Marie Fontanel (Photo from Amb. Fontanel via Twitter)
Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines David Bruce Hartman also joined the launch of the countdown for the anniversary of the Declaration, which he said was “for the protection of life, dignity and equality for all.”
Irish Ambassador to Manila William Carlos also shared it was “wonderful” to attend the event, which was launched by the Presidential Human Rights Commission on Wednesday.
“Every day, we renew our commitment to upholding human rights for all people in all nations,” he posted on X.
Gonzalez, who delivered a speech during the launch, underscored the importance of the Declaration.
“Commitment to human rights is the most effective way of achieving development that is not only sustainable, but fundamentally inclusive,” the UN Philippines chief said as quoted by UN Philippines’ post on X.
"The human rights framework provides a clear direction that should inform all our plans and actions, including the Sustainable Development Goals,” he added.
Gonzalez also stressed that the Declaration “offers a platform to address emerging development challenges that may put our freedom at risk, including Artificial Intelligence.”
And while the Declaration, he said, “was written to save humans from our worst,” it also became “a testament to our best.”
Gonzalez then thanked Remulla and the development cooperation community in the Philippines “for taking active part in the launching of 75-day countdown towards the celebration of 75th anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights!”
According to the UN website, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in Paris on Dec. 10, 1948.
For the first time, it sets out fundamental human rights to be universally protected, and paved the way for the adoption of more than 70 human rights treaties.