Mediothek Balkh (Mawlana Peace House) organized an event to mark the international day of human rights. The events was attended by more than 110 participants including representatives of government institutions, human right advocates and defenders, leaders of civil society organizations, journalists and representatives of media organizations, experts, academics and students.
In his opening remarks, Mediothek Balk coordinator, M. Saber Naqshbandi, acknowledged the financial support of the German Cooperation and GIZ for supporting the event and organizing partners for contributing in organizing the event. Mr. Naqshbandi stressed that we must all become advocates for human rights because this is the responsibility of each and everyone and we must not allow human rights to be infringed and violated under any circumstances.
Provincial head of the Independent Human Rights Commission Mr. Qazi sayed Mohammad Samay talked about the human rights conditions in the country, developments, achievements and challenges.
Mr. Samay said that Afghanistan has had tremendous achievements over the past two decades when it comes to human rights in the country, he pointed out the access to education, freedom of express, creating of institutions dedicated to advancing human rights, freedom of women in getting and education and running for public office are all examples of achievements.
But he stressed that we must be nor overshadowed by these achievements as we also have countless challenges such as insecurity, widespread corruption, backward social customs, poverty and numerous other challenges threatening human rights.
Other expert speakers also talked about the challenges and conditions of human rights in the country. They all expressed that human right is a universal value and this universal value is under grave threats from so many sides and we all must work together to protect and advance this very important value. The event also included theater and live music performances by local artist.
Mediothek Afghanistan has been an advocate of human rights for almost two decades now, working with human rights defenders and local organizations and government agency to raise awareness about human rights by providing training and education on a broad range of topics.
Mediothek Afghanistan has also been working with media and journalist to promote human rights through media coverage and training journalists on how to report about human rights topics. Additionally, Mediothek has been working with civil society organizations to promote human rights by organizing discourses among local population, religious scholars, Imams, women and youth on human rights related topics.
