A/HRC/18/47
53.
Public information campaigns were carried out in partnership with civil society
organizations and arts institutions to promote human rights among a cross-section of
society. OHCHR provided project grants to four organizations that sought to popularize
human rights concepts utilizing different forms of media. These included film screenings
and live drama performances watched by thousands of people in at least 20 remote
provincial locations.
54.
For Human Rights Day 2010, OHCHR supported strategic activities to deliver key
human rights messages to various audiences, which included an annual human rights march
in Phnom Penh, free legal consultation in Banteay Meanchey Provincial Prison, evening
street parades in Battambang, video shows, theatre plays, community dialogues in 19
provinces, segment features on television programmes, and the production of three Khmer
songs on human rights in CD format.
55.
OHCHR continued to disseminate its human rights publications, with 24,000 copies
of printed materials distributed to students, school libraries and institutions, and during
trainings, workshops, community meetings and public events. The OHCHR Resource
Centre in Phnom Penh opened every Friday afternoon to the public, and has welcomed
students, NGOs, government officials and monks, among others.
56.
In partnership with the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia, OHCHR
compiled an electronic version of Cambodian laws in an updatable CD format as an
alternative to the book series previously published. Printed copies of the Office’s Annual
Report in English and Khmer with comments by the Government were widely circulated to
key partners, as well as copies in Khmer of the Special Rapporteur’s report to the Human
Rights Council (A/HRC/15/46). Human Rights: A Handbook for Parliamentarians, copublished by OHCHR and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, was translated into Khmer and
printed for distribution to members of the parliament and other relevant government offices.
57.
Efforts at advancing human rights education proved more challenging. A joint
OHCHR, UNESCO and UNICEF project with the Ministry of Education, Youth and
Sports, aimed at piloting a human rights curriculum in primary schools in two provinces,
encountered obstacles in terms of finance and logistics. A modified project will be launched
in August 2011.
VII.
Assistance on reporting and follow-up under the human
rights treaty bodies and the universal periodic review
58.
Cambodia has one of the strongest records of ratification of human rights treaties in
the region. It has ratified six of the nine core international human rights treaties, and the
Optional Protocols to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This
record was strengthened with the entry into force for Cambodia of the Optional Protocol to
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in
January 2011. In doing so Cambodia became the 100th State to ratify the protocol and only
the third among the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In
March 2011, OHCHR and UN-Women held trainings on the Optional Protocol for
Government, civil society, and United Nations agencies.
59.
Similarly, with sustained support from OHCHR, Cambodia has seen significant
progress in reducing its backlog of reports that are due to the treaty bodies. From a total of
15 overdue reports in 2008, Cambodia now has only 1 overdue report, that under the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. OHCHR also helped civil society in
the preparation of shadow reports for presentation to the treaty bodies. OHCHR continued
to support the Government in preparations for its dialogues with the treaty bodies, and
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