Belt & Road cooperation contributes to promoting global human rights cause: experts

GENEVA, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Belt and Road cooperation has contributed to promoting global human rights cause, a group of experts and scholars said at a symposium here Tuesday.

"The Belt and Road cooperation has played an important role in the progress of human rights cause in partner countries, as the cooperation improved infrastructure, brought job opportunities, facilitated trade, increased people's incomes and reduced poverty," said Hu Biliang, executive dean of the Belt and Road School at Beijing Normal University.

The symposium, on the theme of "Joint Building of the Belt & Road and Progress of Global Human Rights Cause," was organized by China Foundation for Human Rights Development (CFHRD), a Chinese non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting the development of human rights cause. It was one of a series of meetings discussing global human rights held in Geneva during the 54th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council from Sept. 11 to Oct. 13.

Hu, a famous Chinese scholar focusing on Belt and Road-related research, said Belt and Road cooperations paid attention to less developed countries and regions, and prioritized poverty alleviation, employment, as well as improvement of people's livelihood.

According to data released by the Chinese government, since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was proposed in 2013, more than 150 countries and 30 international organizations have signed cooperation documents. Over 3,000 cooperation projects have been launched under the cooperation of Chinese and foreign partners, involving close to 1 trillion U.S. dollars of investment. It brought at least 420,000 job opportunities, and according to estimation of the World Bank, it will help dozens of million people get out of poverty.

Zhang Aining, director of the Human Rights Studies Center in China Foreign Affairs University, said that the initiative is a Chinese solution to the problems the world is now facing and to the realization of 2030 UN sustainable development goals.

She quoted UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk at the opening ceremony of the 54th session of the UN Human Rights Council as saying that development issues underlie almost every challenge we face. People around the world want and have the right to enjoy food on the table, affordable healthcare, equal accesses to education, good economic prospects, and a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, but the reality is a far cry from that. To achieve these goals, countries around the world need to move decisively toward a fundamental transformation.

Countless "livelihood projects" have been carried out to help partner countries meet the most basic needs of their people, such as clean water, housing, transportation, medical services, and education, and improved people's basic livelihood, she said. "The BRI is turning the aspirations of the people of the partner countries for a better life into reality."

Zhang Wei, executive vice president of the Institute of Human Rights at the China University of Political Science and Law, agreed with Zhang Aining. "The BRI has provided more job opportunities in partner countries, with better roads, hospitals, schools, and other income-generating infrastructure," Zhang Wei said.

"Due to the low and long return nature of infrastructure projects, many developing countries were left alone helpless for many years. Bad roads, airports, seaports impeded the economic development. The BRI fills this big hole for many developing countries and provides a solid precondition for their economic take-off. The BRI is a good example of taking steps through international economic cooperation to achieving progressively the full realization of economic, social, and cultural rights," Zhang Wei said.

Shang Haiming, an associate professor at the Human Rights Research Institute in Southwest University of Political Science and Law, said that the BRI not only promoted the human rights development in partner countries, but also enhanced ecological environment protection worldwide.

"China introduced the Green BRI concept into cooperation, emphasizing ecological civilization construction in all projects and cooperation under the BRI framework. During the past 10 years, many policies and measures were implemented to promote the environmental rights in partner countries," Shang said.

Zuo Feng, vice chairman and secretary-general of the CFHRD, said that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 35th anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development, and the 13th anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. At a time when global human rights governance is facing serious challenges, it is of particular importance to revisit the basic spirit of these programmatic documents, which has led to a deeper understanding of the importance of protecting and promoting human rights.

Zuo said that the 10 years of Belt and Road cooperation plays a constructive role in improving the global economic landscape, promoting common development and prosperity, and improving the global governance system. It is widely recognized that the cooperation made positive contributions to global development and human rights progress.

"I believe the Belt and Road Initiative can help a lot of countries because some of the pillars are cooperation, development and well-being of the population," said Catherine Fiankan-Bokonga, senior UN correspondent and vice president of Swiss Press Club who participated the symposium.