ASEAN Regional Dialogue focuses on sharing best practices on enhancing human rights during COVID-19

PHNOM PENH, 29 October 2024 – The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) convened the Regional Dialogue: Sharing Good Practices on Enhancing Human Rights during the Covid-19 Pandemic in ASEAN, on 28-29 October in Cambodia.

The dialogue aimed to 1) provide a platform for discussions among relevant and multi-stakeholders in sharing experiences and crisis response related to the COVID-19 pandemic and identifying areas of future cooperation and 2) document best practices in addressing human rights within identified thematic and cross-cutting areas during the pandemic in the ASEAN region.

The objectives of the two-day event aligned with the “ASEAN Community Vision 2025: Forging Ahead Together”, the ASEAN Political-Security Community Blueprint 2025, and the Five-Year Work Plan of the AICHR 2021-2025.

In his welcoming remarks, Keo Remy, Senior Minister, President of the Cambodian Human Rights Committee (CHRC) and the Representative of Cambodia to the AICHR, discussed the importance of human rights, particularly the right to life, and the repercussions of the pandemic on this right. He stated that “the disruptive impacts of the pandemic have made all countries in the world issue diverse preventive and protective measures to ensure protection for people’s lives and national stability.”

He highlighted that in safeguarding the right to life during the pandemic, the Cambodian government established essential measures, notably the government’s vaccination policy, which has been successfully executed and praised by peer countries along with the World Health Organization.

Senior Minister Keo Remy underlined the significant support China has catered to Cambodia, including the donation of medical supplies and the provision of vaccinations, which enabled Cambodia to safeguard millions of lives. He pinpointed that “such demonstration emphasises the solidarity and cooperation between Cambodia and China in times of crisis as well as reinforces China’s support in the region as a key ally during global emergencies.”

The dialogue was also graced by Ambassador Yong Chanthalangsy, Chair and Representative of Lao PDR to the AICHR. Ambassador Chanthalangsy reaffirmed, “As Chair of ASEAN in 2024, the Lao PDR has taken a proactive stance, prioritising health resilience and focusing on strategies to bolster the region’s capacity to prevent and handle future economic, social, cultural and health impacts in case of crisis in our region.”

He also highlighted ASEAN’s commitments and initiatives aimed at realisation of the right to life, right to health, and ASEAN’s strategies, by stating “the pandemic’s multidimensional impact necessitated a strategic and collaborative approach by ASEAN. In November 2020, the ASEAN Leaders adopted the ASEAN COVID-19 Recovery Framework. With its five broad strategies, this framework was crucial in mitigating the crisis’s socio-economic impacts.”

Ambassador Chanthalangsy also drew the point on the One Health Initiative spearheaded by Indonesia, the vital interconnections between people’s health and environmental, and climate change. He continued his address by thanking China’s support during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Underscoring how the government’s public policies worked during the pandemic, Chang Jian, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China to Cambodia accentuated that “people come first” and that “a responsible government leaves no one behind” and emphasised that “the Royal Government’s COVID policies placed people first.” He recalled how expatriates were taken care of in the vaccination programme in Cambodia.  He fondly stated that “we will always remember His Majesty the King and Her Majesty Queen Mother, Samdech Techo Hun Sen and the Cambodian people gave valuable support to China in early 2020.”

The Dialogue delineated best practices and challenges pertaining to the enhancing of (i) the right to health, (ii) the right to quality and access education, (iii) labor rights, (iv) the rights to information and privacy, and (v) social protection responses during and post-covid-19 pandemic, aligning with the objectives of the Dialogue.

The participants and experts explored potential avenues for the AICHR, other pertinent ASEAN bodies, and stakeholders to help mainstream the right to health and quality education in the ASEAN community, as well as address challenges and best practices for labor rights and the rights to information and privacy, and discuss in-depth the future of social protection responses.

As the host, Long Sonita, Alternate Representative of Cambodia to the AICHR, concluded the event by expressing confidence that this Dialogue would be a powerful platform to further strengthen regional cooperation on human rights across various domains during and after pandemic. The Alternate Representative also expressed her appreciation and gratitude toward the ASEAN-China Cooperation Fund  for its consistent support of AICHR activities.

The dialogue gathered nearly one hundred participants from the ASEAN Member States, the Representatives of AICHR, the ASEAN Sectoral Bodies, ASEAN Secretariat, National Human Rights Institutions in ASEAN, Representatives from the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia, UNICEF, International Labour Organisation and experts from ASEAN, China and Japan.

Also present were the national ministries and institutions including Ministry of Health, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, Ministry of Information, Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, Ministry of Planning, National Social Protection Council, Cambodian National Council for Children and the Cambodian Human Rights Committee.

The event was organised by AICHR-Cambodia and financially supported by the ASEAN-China Cooperation Fund (ACCF) and AICHR Fund.