Former CHR chair to head UN human rights body

Former Commission on Human Rights chairperson Purificacion Quisumbing was unanimously elected chairperson of the Advisory Committee of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) during its elections this week in Geneva, Switzerland. "It is a great honor to serve as Chair of the Advisory Committee. I am humbled by the confidence my highly esteemed colleagues have placed in me," Quisumbing said in a statement posted on the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) website. The Advisory Committee, composed of 18 independent human rights experts from different regions of the world, functions as the think tank of the UNHRC. Quisumbing — a human rights advocate, lawyer and professor — previously served chair of the former UN Commission on Human Rights, the predecessor of the UNHRC, in 1990, while being the assistant secretary for human rights under the administration of the late President Corazon Aquino. Philippine ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva Evan P. Garcia congratulated Quisumbing on her election. "Dr. Quisumbing's election as Chair of the Advisory Committee follows the long tradition of Philippine leadership in international human rights engagement. We are very proud of her. No doubt, with her vast expertise and experience, she will lead the Advisory Committee to great success in its work," Garcia said in the same statement. During its fifth session, the Advisory Committee is working on topics of importance to the Philippines, such as the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy; missing persons; the right to food; the right of peoples to peace; enhancement of international cooperation on human rights; and human rights education and training. The DFA said the Philippines is particularly active in the UNHRC to promote human rights education and training. The country currently co-chairs negotiations on the draft UN Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training. Quisumbing was the chairperson of the Department of International and Human Rights Law of the Philippine Judicial Academy, and has taught law at the University of the Philippines and the University of the East. She is married to former Supreme Court Associate Justice Leonardo Quisuming, with whom she has two children: Josefa Lourdes, an artist and writer, and Cecilia Rachel, currently a CHR commissioner. - Jerrie M. Abella/KBK, GMANews.TV