Resident Coordinator calls on Jamaica to build rule of law, equality and governance

United Nations Resident Coordinator, Bruno Pouezat has called on Jamaica to work on building its rule of law institutions, equality for all, and transparent, participatory and accountable governance, as practical steps to securing Human Rights for all citizens.

This is the path to security, prosperity and peace for all, he declared yesterday at the Human Rights Day event, ‘Reasonings, Lecture and Art Exhibition’ in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The event was supported by the UN Jamaica, European Union Delegation to Jamaica, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts.

Mr Pouezat said rule of law institutions offer the confidence of impartial justice and expressed optimism in the recently announced Cabinet submission on the National Human Rights Institution, noting that this will strengthen the administration and enforcement of all human rights. 

He called on all Jamaicans to actively engage in safeguarding the human rights of all by taking a stand. “We are all in this fight together, and all of us can make a difference. In professional functions and in daily activities, in art and in life, I ask you to act to promote peace, fight back against discrimination, and uphold justice,” he said.

“We need to mobilise energetic activism in every country where people are still free to raise their voices without fear. We need to seek out new partners, and act together to uphold fundamental rights and freedoms,” the UN Resident Coordinator declared.

In a keynote address delivered on behalf of Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith by Permanent Ambassador Marcia Gilbert Roberts, all Jamaicans were invited to partner with government and international partners. “Let us now stand up only for our own rights, but also stand firm in protecting the rights of our fellow citizens. If we each become our brother’s keeper, our own rights are better protected,” she urged.

The Universal Declaration is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 (General Assembly resolution 217 A) as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected and it has been translated into over 500 languages.