How Gwangju Said “Yes” to Human Rights

Photographed by Peter Thommesen

Human rights brought together global specialists, analysts and experts for the World Human Rights Cities Forum 2015 at the Kimdaejung Convention Center from May 15 to 18. With the Forum adding to the theme: “Towards a Global Alliance of Human Rights Cities for All, Part 2,”new visitors joined together to learn from each other.

Dr. Lee Seunghae, an Associate Professor from Oregon State University who has lived in America for nearly 20 years, returned to her home country of Korea, making her second trip ever to Gwangju for this Forum.

At school, her teaching and research specialties of designing elderly care facilities helps the older generations thrive during their retirement within safe and comfortable accommodations. At the Forum, Lee was a speaker during “The Elderly and Human Rights” Thematic Workshop.

Lee appreciated what she learned about Gwangju’s past. But what made the circumstances more tragic for her were both Gwangju’s victims and villains. “They are all Koreans. Why do we need to be in this situation: killing your family, friends and neighbors?”

Thus, while acknowledging the pain Gwangju endured, Lee expressed how this journey has established and strengthened human rights. “If you really honor and respect the fact that everyone is equal, then it will be the same human rights. To respect human rights, you will respect the human rights for the elderly, for the disabled, for women and for many others,” Lee said.

Practicality is what Hj. Baderul Amin bin Abdul Hamid emphasized as key to his work as a Malaysian civil engineer. Having worked with the Pulau Pinang Municipal Council since 1981, Amin has assisted with construction projects honoring human rights, specifically for children. “Education is a human right, also for poorer and disabled children. We have to give support to these schools.”

Amin served as a speaker during the “Human Rights Cities Policy Session 1,” where his company’s construction efforts are making places accessible for both genders, those with disabilities and the elderly. “There used to be a lack of accessibility. With this [negative] exposure, it is a part of the learning process, so we put in extra features. And now, we need a larger budget, but we cannot sacrifice the accessibility and equality for all residents.”

Also according for Mr. Yaacov Hecht, equality starts in the classroom. “For example, if the main idea of human rights is the freedom to think and the freedom to talk, this freedom has disappeared in schools, so we cannot teach students [well] in the traditional system.”

Hecht is the CEO for Education Cities, an organization with an alternative approach to education, where students’ excellence is achieved through creating personal learning plans. “In human rights, there are rights to education and they are to find the full potential of every child. So, we are to find the excellent parts of every child, and not to say: ‘Who is excellent, who is mediocre and who is weak?’”

Hecht stressed that younger generations’ education should also not be limited within classroom walls. “If we use all the sources that exist in the city, and when I say sources, I say talent, people, libraries, factories and hospitals, every place becomes a learning place. That [concept is] something very powerful, not only to prepare children for the future, but to also prepare children to change the future.”

Hecht shared what his organization has so far accomplished as one of the speakers during the “City and Child/Youth” Thematic Workshop.

All three speakers were very grateful to the Gwangju International Center for the invitations and they all enjoyed the Forum to the fullest. Amin specifically added, “The moment that I came here, I learned a lot, and then, I learned some of the best practices from other countries in terms of human rights.”

Interested to read more of what happened at this year’s Forum? More information about these three speakers and about their thematic workshops can be found by visiting the Forum’s website at: whrcf.org, and by finding the Forum on Facebook: World Human Rights Cities Forum – 세계인권도시포럼.