Jakarta (VNA) – A high-leveldialogue on human rights in ASEAN to assess the decade-long operation of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) was held inJakarta, Indonesia on May 9.

The event wasco-organised by the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), and the Centrefor Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

It drewthe participation of human rights experts, political figures, representativesfrom civil society organisations, activists, practitioners, and academiciansfrom ASEAN, to highlight key events, challenges, opportunities, and recommendationsin light of the AICHR 10-year review.

Thedialogue is also hoped to activate collective political action to strengthenthe AICHR’s protection mandate through proposals and strengthen the protectionpractices, with a view to enhance the protection of human rights in the region.

Speakingat the event, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia M. Fachirstressed that the AICHR needs to protect the rights of ASEAN people, not simplypromoting human rights justice.

In its10th year, the AICHR needs a new breakthrough to improve efficiency in theregion. The commission could boost innovation to maximise the protection ofhuman rights and to make contributions to the development and peace maintenancein the region, he added.

PhillipsVermonte, researcher at CSIS Jakarta, affirmed that over the past decade, theAICHR has successfully promoted regional instruments, including the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (AHRD) 2012, the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025, andthe Mainstreaming the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2018.

He addedthat the future will be brighter if countries in the region work togetherclosely in socio-economic development, peace, and security, including humanrights.

At theevent, delegates reviewed achievements of the AICHR so far, such as the AHRD, the ASEANConsensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers in2016, as well as the ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in Persons (ACTIP) in2017.

Sinceits establishment, the AICHR is tasked with developing strategies for the promotion and protection of humanrights and fundamental freedoms of peoples in ASEAN through the education, monitoring,and dissemination of information on human rights standards as prescribed by theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights, the Vienna Declaration and Programme ofAction, and other international human rights instruments. –VNA