Anna Wu

[Ed. Note: The author is the chairperson of the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) in Hong Kong.]

It is my great pleasure to attend this ceremony in the company of distinguished human rights advocates to witness the launching of the Chinese version of the Asian Human Rights Charter. Since the ratification of the Asian Human Rights Charter in 1998, the original version in English has been translated into various languages. Today, with the launching of the Chinese version, I believe that more people living in the Chinese-speaking regions and those overseas will be able to appreciate the charter and its far-reaching ramifications. I strongly believe that this will create more discussion in different sectors of these communities, turning a new chapter in the development of human rights in Asia.

The Asian Human Rights Charter is an important document produced after years of joint discussions among more than 200 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and thousands of human rights professionals. It represents Asians’ quest for human rights and the culmination of years of hard work and cooperation despite serious financial constraints.

Apart from analysing the basic concept of human rights, the charter has also set out the principles for improving human rights after considering the distinctive cultural, social and economic factors in Asia. This proves that human rights go beyond borders and are not remote. On the contrary, human rights protect life and enhance it with dignity.

The Asian Human Rights Charter points out that the ‘right to life,’ among other rights, is intrinsic. The ‘right to life’ includes the right to live, which is expounded to allow individuals to fully develop their natural talents and to enjoy life. The spirit of equal opportunities shares this concept, which asserts that all irrelevant factors, such as race, colour, language, religion, gender, family responsibility, disability, etc., should be set aside so as to enable all people to fully participate in their communities.

Hong Kong, of course, is a prosperous city when compared to some of our Asian counterparts. However, there are certain groups of people in Hong Kong who are not able to enjoy life as others; their rights to life and rights to information are adversely affected. For instance, most of the web pages are designed without considering the needs of people with a visual impairment. This has prevented the visually impaired the opportunity to acquire information from the Internet. Hong Kong has also neglected the rights of people with a disability. In the past, because of a shortage of land, our schools have not been built to accommodate wheelchair users as narrow corridors and a lack of elevators have denied many the opportunity to attend school. It is also estimated that more than 900,000 women are illiterate or have only received a primary education. It is difficult for these women to make a decent living, and many of them are struggling below the poverty line. To rectify the situation, we must garner support from all sectors to recognise the right to life and the right to development for the individual.

Human rights provide dignity for every individual. It also protects the individual’s entitlement to development and promotes stability for every society. The Asian Human Rights Charter marks the entry of a new millennium for the development of human rights in Asia. It is a reminder for us all to work strenuously to protect the rights of all people across the region.