The Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh, the Office of the United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator, and human rights NGO Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) jointly organized a film screening event and discussion panel in Rajshahi.
According to press release, the event was arranged on Monday to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and to highlight the importance of human rights.
UN Resident Coordinator of Bangladesh Mia Seppo, and the Chargé d'affaires (a.i) of the Swiss Embassy, Christoph Fuchs, spoke at the event.
Renowned human rights activist Khushi Kabir, Professor ANM Wahid and Professor Bokhtiar Ahmed from the University of Rajshahi participated in the panel discussion, while Sheepa Hafiza, executive director of ASK, moderated the discussions.
The panelists discussed various aspects of civil and women's rights along with the recommendations of 3rd Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Bangladesh regarding human rights.
The discussion was followed by an interactive session with the audience who used the platform to express their perspective about human rights and experience of applying it in their daily lives.
The event was widely attended by Rajshahi based human rights and civil society activists, and university students.
The award winning Swiss film "Sonita" featuring gender rights issues was screened at the event.
At one point of the event, Mia Seppo said: "The importance of the Universal Declaration cannot be overemphasized: it put countries on the road to rights and justice for all, leading away from discrimination, violence and lack of a voice."
Adding to that, Christoph Fuchs said: "Human rights are intrinsically linked to development and vice versa.
"To this end, Switzerland will continue to work with the government, as well as civil society organizations and NGOs for the promotion of human rights and development in Bangladesh."
The event in Rajshahi is part of an international human rights film tour in over 45 countries organized by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights in Geneva.
In Bangladesh, the film tour is traveling to six cities in total- Dhaka, Rangpur, Khulna, Rajshahi, Barisal and Chittagong.
