[Photo/VCG]
Human rights protection and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development were put in the spotlight on Monday by experts at a side event of the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Jean-Michel Carre, a French documentary director and producer, talked about his painstaking efforts in making a documentary about the Xizang autonomous region, but said his film was nonetheless banned in many European countries.
"I did extensive archival research that allowed me to unearth indisputable documents that contradict the Western narrative on Xizang. It was the highlighting of these documents that led some French and Belgian academics to hate my film and to push the Arte channel to ban the broadcast of my film," Carre said.
"For many years, the West has been talking about human rights on all occasions, but especially on countries with which they have difficulty taking power, economically, politically or militarily," he said.
"For the Chinese government, the primary human rights for its population are education, having a job, housing and the right to health," he said, adding that these rights are often ignored in some Western countries.
Niluobaier Aierti, a lecturer at Xinjiang Arts University, talked about women's development and the protection of women's rights in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.
She said China has established a comprehensive legal system to safeguard women's rights, and the system provides a legal foundation for eliminating gender discrimination in employment, promoting women's entrepreneurship, and preventing domestic violence.
She also highlighted the increased participation by women in political and public life, and the much better education for the young generation.
Every child in Xinjiang now receives 12 years of free schooling, with 15 years in southern regions, she added.
"My family's three generations reflect the progress: My grandmother completed primary school; my mother graduated from a technical secondary school; and I earned a doctorate, thanks to the great progress in education," she told the audience members, who were from various countries and UN institutions.
Wei Dandan, assistant executive director of the China Foundation for Rural Development, talked about poverty reduction and the human rights development practices of NGOs.
Although the foundation focuses on rural development in China, it also has international programs that have invested a total of 476 million yuan ($66 million), benefiting about 2.54 million people in more than 30 countries and regions, including Myanmar, Nepal and Ethiopia.
"I believe that social organizations should continue to play to their unique strengths of professionalism, neutrality, innovation and reaching out to the community, and focus on building a network of cooperation, so that they can work with greater determination and more pragmatic action to build a world of equal opportunities, dignity and rights for all," Wei said.
The event on Monday was held by the China Society for Human Rights Studies and the China Foundation for Human Rights Development.
Sun Meng, a professor at China University of Political Science and Law's Human Rights Institute, said that in the past decade, China has gradually embarked on the path of integrating development with human rights protection.
"China has redefined the foundations, principles and methods of development and has made development sustainable, while gaining magnificent human rights achievements," she said.
Sun said the participation in the Belt and Road Initiative by more than 150 countries will help strengthen the capacity of local people to fight poverty and develop through infrastructure construction.
Da Lu, an associate professor at the Human Rights Institute of Southwest University of Political Science and Law, called for strengthening international cooperation and forging broader consensus in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
"Countries should abandon zero-sum thinking, uphold multilateralism and jointly address global challenges," Da said.
"Developed countries should fulfill their official development assistance commitments, while developing countries should enhance capacity building to achieve common development," he added.
