The 2019 South-South Human Rights Forum opens in Beijing on Tuesday. Under the theme—“diversity of civilizations and global development of human rights,” the forum is hosted by the State Council Information Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Parallel sessionⅡis held with the topic of Building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind and Global Human Rights Governance.

 

Ahmed Sekou KEITA, Specialist of Human Rights Affairs, Director of Cabinet of Ministry of Mines and Geology, Guinea, said at the parallel session countering and addressing the new threats and challenges to human rights and development by a new approach through the concept of “Building a Community with a Shared Future for Human Beings and Global Human Rights Governance”. This new approach means that "Developing countries should pay special attention to safeguarding people's right to subsistence and right to development, especially to achieve a decent standard of living, adequate food, clothing, and clean drinking water, the right to housing, security, work, education, health and social security" . Through this concept, China has defined a new approach of human rights going beyond the classical approach of human rights and has included the right to development for developing countries for the first time.

 

The notion of construction of building a community of shared future for mankind goes beyond the narrow approach of western liberalism, it seeks common well-being for all mankind. It focuses on the unification of individual and collective rights, political, economical, cultural, social and environmental rights. It also unifies the rights to subsistence, development and peace. Through this concept, China is now playing a major role in shaping human right governance in the construction of more equitable and reasonable international order for human rights.

 

The underlying principles of this approach remain unifying all human rights instruments to include environmental and sustainable development rights. It also harmonizes the goal of human rights governance through a community of shared future making to enable countries to respect, protect and promote the development of human rights. The cooperative approach with greater cooperation between countries in equity, respect and sustainable development has gained international backing by making China today a leading player in shaping and achieving global human rights governance by building a community of shared future.

 

To achieve a community with a shared future for human beings and global human rights governance, China proposed The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to achieve the 2030 Agenda. The BRI initiative is an international cooperation initiative that aims to advance global and regional connectivity. With this approach China is on the path of making a world a better place, in achieving sustainable development and greater cooperation between countries that would lead to better protection and promotion of human rights values.