December 10- Human Rights Day

"Today, poverty prevails as the gravest human rights challenge in the world. Combating poverty, deprivation and exclusion is not a matter of charity, and it does not depend on how rich a country is. By tackling poverty as a matter of human rights obligation, the world will have a better chance of abolishing this scourge in our lifetime...Poverty eradication is an achievable goal."

Louise Arbour UN High Commissioner for Human Rights http://www.un.org/events/humanrights/2006/

The reason I use the above quote coincides with Louise Arbour's visit to Sri Lanka in September. Her report to the UN looked at human rights violations which relate to the upturn in the conflict, the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), LTTE tactics, etc.

From the standpoint of someone who is trying to help people regain their livelihoods, this is sometimes seen as a pointless task. Just as many of the initiatives we are working on begin to uplift communities out of poverty and fears about their futures and their security, another attack occurs, a bomb explodes, people are forced back into subsistence, hoping that peace will come to their areas once again.

The government of Sri Lanka does not accept Louise Arbour's report, nor will it accept the UN's invitation to act as a monitoring body within the country. Last week over 1000 Tamils in Colombo were arrested following two bombings in the city. No just cause was given, most of the people have been released, and the government still justifies its actions.

Happy Human Rights Day Sri Lanka