Ms Mary Robinson to the YT: “Yemen Needs to Show its Commitment to Democracy and Human Rights.” [Archives:2000/06/Front Page]

The workshop on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Right to Development in the Asia-Pacific Region commenced in Sana’a on Saturday February 5, 2000. The three day workshop will end on the 7th of February. Thirty two nations and organizations participated in the seminar. In addition to a number of high ranking Yemeni officials , including the Prime Minister, Dr. Abdulkarim Al-Iriani, the inaugural event was attended by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mrs. Mary Robinson addressing the workshop, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson confirmed the need for mutual sharing of experiences and that the ultimate aim of development is to reach the stage in which all human rights are guaranteed and enjoyed by all. She also reviewed the United Nations efforts in the field of human rights, and called for working together to find ways of integrating human rights with the development programs.
Ms Robinson also made it clear that this workshop offers an opportunity for discussing the importance of the right to development and the obstacles facing the fulfillment of the right to development and the economic, social and cultural rights as well as the strategies necessary to overcome those obstacles. She added that one of the main goals of the meeting is to identify the steps to be taken towards this end, hoping that the discussions will enable the participants to do so.
Ms Robinson concluded her address by calling for adopting strategies with a forward looking to improve the realization of human rights, including economic, social and cultural rights and the right to development. She added that development cooperation and assistance should be based on human rights dialogue and national development planning based on analysis of the human rights situation in the country.
On another note, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson met President Ali Abdullah Saleh last Saturday, to who she expressed her admiration for the Yemeni experiment with democracy experiment and praised the conditions of human rights in Yemen. She has also confirmed support for Yemen’s efforts exerted in the field of human rights care and providing the opportunity for women to take part actively in political and general life, pointing out that convening the international symposium on human rights in Sana’a is a confirmation that Yemen has an important status in the frame of its commitment to democracy and respect of human rights.
Ms Robinson did however point out to the Yemen Times that it is essential that commitment to human rights and practical application of that commitment are tantamount to fully confirm that Yemen is dedicated to insuring that the Yemeni people are not deprived of human rights and democratic governments. Yemen must show that it is working towards rights for women and addressing some of the other issues that need to be resolved in this area, which have caught the attention of the international community. The interview of Ms. Mary Robinson will be featured in the next issue of the YT.

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