A HUMAN Rights Action Plan will be crafted in the Philippines, the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights said Friday.
The Action Plan is intended to combat corruption, human trafficking, poverty, unemployment, and underemployment or other concerns pertaining to human rights defenders and the strengthening of the Commission on Human Rights, the group said.
As a way forward, Presidential Human Rights Committee Undersecretary Severo Catura informed the body the country would be embarking on the formulation of the 3rd Philippine Human Rights Action Plan, 2018-2022.
“The action plan will set out the activities and targets, including monitoring and reporting activities, covering the eight core human rights treaties to which the Philippines has committed to,” he said.
In addition, the PHRC will spearhead the institutionalization of the National Mechanism for Reporting and Follow-up to coordinate and track national follow-up and implementation of recommendations from human rights mechanisms like Universal Periodic Review, Treaty Bodies, and UN Special Rapporteurs.
Cynthia Veliko of the United Nations Development Program for her part emphasized the importance of conducting regional and national consultations and engaging the various UN agencies working in the area of economic, social and cultural rights.
She noted agencies like Unicef, UNFPA, UNDP, ILO, WHO, FAO, WFP, UNHCR, and UNAIDS would be able to provide expertise and guidance during thematic consultations to ensure that international standards were considered.
Meanwhile, lawyer Jesus Torres of the CHR pointed out that the concluding observations did not elaborate concerns on cultural rights.
He suggested the issue be discussed in the next Philippine report.
He shared with the body that the CHR’s current system of monitoring of and reporting on ESCR concerns is guided by the O-Pe-R-A Framework (Outcomes, Policy Efforts, Resources, Assessment).
The dissemination forum was attended by the members of the Technical Working Group on the ICESCR (TWG-ICESCR) and other relevant government agencies, along with representatives from the CHR and UNDP.
The constructive dialogue last September in Geneva, Switzerland discussed and validated the committee’s observations on the Philippines’ combined 5th and 6th periodic report.
