Tehran hosting international human rights conference

The second International Conference on Human Rights and Cultures is underway in Tehran, with representatives from 30 countries in attendance.

The conference, which is being hosted by the Non-Aligned Movement’s Center for Human Rights and Cultural Diversity, kicked off on Monday.

It has gathered academics and members of national institutions and non-governmental organizations to discuss channels to promote the issue across the world in a non-politicized way and to share their experiences.

The main topics of discussion are women’s rights, cultural diversity, financial rights, religion in Europe, ethics, sanctions, and double standards.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi noted that through attending the conference, the delegates have renewed the international community’s commitment to promote and uphold human rights.

“We hope that through your meeting, you will find some innovative ways… to promote and enhance this important idea of human rights and cultural diversity,” he added.

The participants and sponsors of the gathering expressed optimism that the final communiqué of the conference, which ends on November 14, would present a common plan for the promotion of human rights across the world, especially in developing nations.

“The problem is that human rights has been politicized and it is not politicized by a particular government, it is politicized by all states, and so the question is for us how to actually get that dialogue back and talk about human rights in its place,” Kathleen Cavanaugh of the Irish Human Rights Center told Press TV.

The participants will be holding discussions over the next few days within the framework of expert panels, in which they will examine the link between development, democracy, and economic, social, cultural, civil, religious, and political rights and evaluate the effectiveness of the UN’s methods and mechanisms.

At the end of the conference, the delegates will recommend ways to ensure that adequate support and other resources for human rights activities across the globe are provided.