Faisalabad: Human Rights Focus Pakistan (HRFP) observed International Human Rights Day 2020 on United Nation’s theme “Recover Better - Stand Up for Human Rights” in a context of COVID-19 pandemic and focuses on the need to build back better by ensuring Human Rights.

The participants from different fields of life including human rights defenders, political workers, social activists, lawyers, teachers, women activists, representatives of civil society organizations and the minorities expressed their thoughts, shared and learned from each other’s about their experiences during COVID-19, health issues, resources, human rights violations and how the problems they are facing, dealing to recover towards better and preparing for post COVID-19.

Naveed Walter president of Human Rights Focus Pakistan (HRFP) said that the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the societies all parts, affected worse including medically, socially, politically and economically. He said the people’s Poverty, inequalities and discrimination based on religion/belief/gender or any others, exclusion and environmental degradations are making societies more vulnerable due to the pandemic.  Naveed Walter said further, if we stand up together, we can recover by adopting the visionary values of UDHR and for establishing the health and social protections systems through urging government / authorities, he added more.

The speakers Naseem Haroon, Anum Bibi , James Lal ,Shadman John, Nida Naeem,  Saleem John and others said that Pakistan in less resources hurting more by second wave of the pandemic and several issues linked to economy and human rights will remain longer as once the crisis over the people cannot go back to how they were before. The standard during recover all fields of life must be to care for their basic human rights and in achieving the sustainable development goals, so let us efforts together for a better to come closer to be recovered, the speakers added.