Commonwealth Secretariat celebrates Human Rights Week

The International Human Rights Week kicks off at the Commonwealth Secretariat on 8 December, 2010, with a multicultural event highlighting the rights of persons with disabilities.

The event, hosted by Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Ransford Smith, will see UN Special Rapporteur on Disability, Shuaib Chalklen, speaking on the importance of addressing the needs and aspirations of persons with disabilities. Mr Chalklen is a prominent leader on disability rights who has made extensive contributions to the advancement of persons with disabilities within both regional and global frameworks.

Human rights week is an opportunity to celebrate the Commonwealth’s diversity and the contribution persons with disabilities have made to our society and our cultural life.

A new video, Human Rights: More than Words, will be launched at the multicultural celebration to commemorate Human Rights Day (10 December), as well as a publication, Human Rights in the Commonwealth – A Status Report 2010. The Caribbean Steel International, Ngâti Rânana London Mâori Club and musician Kuljit Bhamra, will also perform at the event organised by the Human Rights Unit of the Commonwealth Secretariat.

On 9 December, a seminar on disability rights will be held at the Commonwealth Secretariat, where UN experts will share their work with staff. The experts include Mr Chalklen, Edah Maina and Monsur Choudhuri, members of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Ms Maina is a Kenyan expert consultant in intellectual, developmental and psychosocial disabilities. Her key areas of work include disability and HIV/AIDS, and effective inclusion in electoral and judicial systems for persons with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities.

Mr Choudhuri is a Bangladesh expert in disability prevention, visual impairment and accessibility for persons with disabilities.