Barkah News

On January 1, 2024, Indonesia will take office as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, bringing with it a number of agenda items aimed at promoting and defending human rights on a local, regional, and global scale.

 On October 10, 2023, in a secret ballot conducted by the UN General Assembly in New York, the US, Indonesia was elected to reclaim its seat for the sixth time.

 Out of 192 UN members, Indonesia received the most votes (186) to become a member for the 2024–2026 period.

 In its history as a candidate for the UN Human Rights Council, Indonesia had never earned as many votes as it did in this particular count.

 Previously, Indonesia held seats on the UN's top human rights committee from 2006–2007, 2007–2010, 2011–2014, 2015–2017, and 2020–2022.

 Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said, "This showed trust in Indonesia to continue to advance human rights protection."

 For the 2024–2026 term, Albania, Bulgaria, Cuba, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Peru, the Netherlands, and France were among the other nations elected as members of the UNHRC.

safeguarding human rights

 The UN Human Rights Council topic for Indonesia is "Inclusive Partnership for Humanity."

 Indonesia thinks that in order to advance and defend human rights, inclusive partnerships are essential.

 Regardless of political differences, nations should cooperate to defend human rights, and Indonesia has always rejected the use of these issues for political advantage, according to Marsudi.

 For its tenure on the UN Human Rights Council, Indonesia has three main objectives in mind. The protection and advancement of women's and children's rights, making sure that all nations have access to development, and concerns pertaining to civil and political rights are a few of the topics that will be covered.

 First, Indonesia is eager to improve international capacity for promoting and defending human rights, particularly through technical cooperation and capacity building, and to lessen disparities in this regard across governments.

 Indonesia will support bolstering the implementation of the National Action Plan for Human Rights (RANHAM), in keeping with its commitment to the protection and advancement of human rights at the national level.

 This involves advocating for significant causes including gender parity, women's and children's rights protection, and the right to development and health.

 RANHAM is a document that describes strategic goals for putting into practice the respect, protection, fulfillment, enforcement, and promotion of human rights for women, children, people with disabilities, and indigenous people. It is governed by Presidential Regulation Number 53 of 2022.

 The second goal is to advance and defend human rights in Southeast Asia by institutionalizing the ASEAN Human Rights Dialogue and bolstering the mandates of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC).

 In order to improve technical cooperation and capacity building in the field of human rights in the region—particularly the rights of children, women, and people with disabilities—Indonesia is also looking to step up its collaboration with UN agencies and the regional office of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

 Finally, encourage the application of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights' (UDHR) ideals and the bolstering of multilateralism through the tenets of equality, inclusivity, and solidarity.

 The UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in December 1948. Regardless of race, color, sex, language, religion, national or social origin, or any other position, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a broad declaration of rights and fundamental freedoms for all people.

 The statement addresses essential human rights, such as the freedom from torture, slavery, and enslavement; the freedom to practice any religion one chooses; the freedom to work; the right to an education; and the right to a standard of living sufficient for one's health and well-being.

 The foreign ministry stated, "Indonesia will remain dedicated to strongly push for robust implementations of UDHR to address the challenges on the ground, beyond just commemoration."

 In order to address challenges in the region connected to human trafficking and smuggling, online child exploitation, and online labor exploitation, Indonesia is also committed to stepping up collaboration with other nations in the region as well as with international and regional organizations.

 Indonesia is eager to make sure that the UN Human Rights Council does not turn into a platform for geopolitical rivalry and that it simply addresses matters for political purposes while ignoring other crucial issues, according to Achsanul Habib, the country's deputy permanent representative to the UN in Geneva.

 As a result, Indonesia will work to raise additional concerns, such as the defense and advancement of women's and children's rights, making sure that all nations have access to development, and problems pertaining to civil and political rights.

 During the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly in September in New York, the US, among other international venues, Indonesia has made a point of highlighting the significance of development rights.

According to Foreign Minister Marsudi, all nations have the equal right to progress and thrive, but the current global structure favors a small number of people.

 According to Marsudi, trade discrimination against developing nations still exists. Some nations are monopolizing the global supply chain, while many developing nations also have challenges with foreign debt and development funding.

Speaking

 Dinna Prapto Raharjo, the founder of the independent think-tank Synergy Policies and a senior policy advisor on diplomacy, political economy, and social security, said that Indonesia's membership in the UN Human Rights Council will face difficulties because the world is currently becoming more realistic and unilateral.

 Stated differently, nations are become increasingly self-interested and less inclined to collaborate with one another on matters pertaining to human rights.

 Countries are less likely to honor their commitments to uphold and advance human rights when they are more preoccupied with serving their own interests. She pointed out that as a result, nations are disregarding practically all of their human rights obligations.

 She noted that Indonesia's plan to use discussion to address human rights issues in the Human Rights Council is unlikely to succeed because it depends on other nations' cooperation.

 Raharjo stated that Indonesia should not just rely on the Human Rights Council but also work directly through a bilateral approach with other nations to improve human rights protection, as the council's efficacy is frequently restricted by political disagreements among member states.

 Notwithstanding these obstacles, Indonesia's accession to the UN Human Rights Council presents a significant chance for the nation to advance and defend human rights on a national and worldwide level. Indonesia can contribute to the development of norms and standards and the awareness-raising of human rights concerns by collaborating with other council members.

 Source Antaranews