Kaw Pa-Line Officially Honors International Human Rights Day

December 11, 2014

The 66th International Human Rights Day was officially commemorated on December 10th, 2014 in Kaw Pa-Line Village, Kyaikmayaw Township, Mon State. A commemoration event was organized by local youth groups and Mon community-based organizations.

More than 400 people, primarily local community members, joined the event, which focused largely on the history of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Women’s Empowerment Program (WEP) performed a role-play about the elimination of violence against women, while the Mon Youth Education Organization (MYEO) also performed a role-play to educate the audience about human rights. The ceremony closed with event-goers releasing lanterns.

“I have never [had] contact with human rights, since my birth. In the past, just a few people in our region knew about human rights; they didn’t know how many articles [are] included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Some people don’t know how to commemorate the [Human Rights Day] today [December 10, 2014]. I would like to thank everyone who came and organized this event in our region. I’m really satisfied to see our people’s eyes open. I fully support [the organization of the ceremony]. I want them [the organizers] to commemorate [International Human Rights Day] in other regions next year,” said Nai Marn, village headman of Kaw Pa-Line village.

The first official ceremony honoring International Human Rights Day was held in 2013 in Moulmein’s Shwe Myint Mo Tun Hotel. In order to better educate the rural populations about human rights, the ceremony has been organized in rural areas as well.

“We already organized this event in Moulmein last year. If we commemorate Human Rights Day only in the metropolitan area, the rural people [won’t] know about Human Rights Day. In order to educate the rural people about human rights, and the history of Human Rights Day, we organized [this event] in this area,” said Nai Tala Ong, a member of the Human Rights Day Organizing Committee.

“Everyone must respect human rights. Even the people that talk about human rights, they never notice that they themselves violate the rights. If every citizen respects the articles in the [Universal Declaration of] Human rights, there will be peace,” Nai Tala Ong continued.

Although this year’s ceremony marked the 66th anniversary of International Human Rights Day, Mon State only began officially commemorating International Human Rights Day in 2013.

Written by Modinator · Filed Under News