PAS Celebrated International Human Rights Day

PAS Cotonou held a Global Open Door Event December 10 to celebrate the 62^nd anniversary of International Human Rights Day.  The theme for Human Rights Day 10 December 2010 was Human rights defenders who act to end discrimination. Approximately 100 people attended a Post-sponsored roundtable discussion at the ACC on: “The Importance of Civil Society and Role of Social Media in Elections” that engaged civil society organizations, political leaders and media on their key role in standing for the preservation of human rights during the electoral process.

In his opening remarks, Ambassador James Knight noted that an active civil society is a force of pressure that can protect people from human rights violations. He noted that human rights defenders speak out against abuse and violations including discrimination, exclusion, oppression and violence and advocate justice and seek to protect the victims of human rights violations.

This roundtable also served as an opportunity to brief participants about the achievements of Beninese NGOs like Africa Culture, ELAN, ALCRER, Africa Obota, Social Watch, and many others. Participants learned also how to use social media technologies (Facebook, YouTube, blogs, etc.) to interact and enhance their activities.