Experts and officials from eighteen countries are gathering in Beijing to discuss world human rights issues. Participants stresses the importance of international cooperation in respecting and promoting human rights.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Narandran Jody Kollanpen, chair of the South African Human Rights Commission, addressed the opening of the symposium Wednesday.

He says the importance of the symposium lies in how it brings people from different countries together to deal with problems shared across the world.

"Today the problem of the world is that we have enough human rights declarations. We have too much paper, too little action. So we need to move from talking to doing. In my continent, in Africa, many people, millions of people still live in poverty. There's genocide in Darfur, in Rwanda, and we need to make the international community more fair and more just."

Paulo de Tarso Vannuchi, Brazil's Minister of Human Rights, says international cooperation is important for human rights development.

"We should strengthen cooperation on human rights under the framework of the United Nations to deal with problems like poverty and school dropouts. We should also work on the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature, the environment and space."

This year also marks the 15th anniversary of China's first white paper on human rights.

Addressing the symposium, Jiang Zhenghua, a senior official from China's top legislature, notes how China has ensured people's rights by increasing their standard of living. The country has also amended its constitution to highlight human rights protection.

Jiang Zhenghua adds the development of human rights in any given country requires a peaceful and stable international environment.

"We should respect the rights of different countries to choose their social systems and paths toward development. We should respect the diversity of the world, strengthen exchanges between different cultures and eliminate doubts and concerns, so as to create a harmonious world where everybody enjoys human rights."

The symposium is scheduled to conclude on Thursday.

(CRI November 24, 2006)