CHR-Negros Oriental special
investigator, Dr. Jesus Cañete, made the call yesterday during a
briefing with the members of the Association of Negros Oriental Public
Information Officers (ANOPIO).
Cañete explained that rights based
approach (RBA) to governance is a mainstreaming process to link human rights
programs to development. It essentially integrates the standards and principles
of the international human rights system into plans, polices and processes of
development.
He emphasized that the realization of
human rights is the goal of all development efforts and good governance manages
development. With this, there is a need to consciously and deliberately bring
human rights standards in development and governance.
“We find it very hard at first or even
until now, to include human rights values because in our political system,
sometimes human rights take a backseat,” Cañete relayed to ANOPIO members.
He shared that most local chief
executives don’t insert human rights values in their governance style and
therefore PIOs can help address this concern by promoting RBAs in their
respective offices.
“As information officers, you will be
translating in operational terms human rights principles, concepts, national
and international standards and its integration to development plans and
policies of your offices,” Cañete said.
The CHR special investigator also notes
that applying RBA will lead to the increased opportunities for development and
empowerment to the poor and vulnerable sectors of the society.
Aside from these benefits, the poor
members of the society will also have a chance to participate in governance
once they will be informed of their rights which propels a more transparent
system of government, Cañete adds.
But most importantly, the observance of
RBA in every local government unit (LGUs) shows the country’s compliance to the
Human Rights standards of United Nations system which the national government
has signed.
With this, the CHR is willing to give
orientations on RBA and its other programs to different LGUs and other
institutions in the province to promote human rights consciousness to the
public. (mbcn/ral/PIA7-NegOr)