On Euro-Med Monitor’s 8^th anniversary… Falk: ‘We all should work so that human rights challenges diminish’

GENEVA - The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor commemorated its eighth anniversary by calling on the international community and partner human rights organizations to continue working so that efforts to protect human rights outweigh their violations.

The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Euro-Med  Monitor, Professor Richard Falk, said that “this kind of Euro-Med Monitor work is the most valuable and encouraging initiatives that is now taking place,” which is to integrate victims of human rights violations in the process of defending their rights and giving them a voice instead of speaking on their behalf.

Falk, the former UN rapporteur of human rights in the occupied Palestinian Territories, expressed his gratitude for the efforts of workers and volunteers at the Euro-Med Monitor, praising their work to achieve further achievements even under “the most adverse conditions”.

When the Euro-Med Monitor was founded in November 2011, it developed three philosophies of its own, including the integration of target groups in prioritizing its work, relying on youth as a core element of its team, and rejecting any funding proposals from any government or political agencies.

"It is a great honor for me to join in the celebration of the eighth anniversary of Euro-Med Monitor.” Falk noted. “I have been so deeply impressed by the undertaking its creative way of organizing its work… and also by the leadership shown by young people who act on a voluntary basis supported by a dedicated staff”

Falk stressed the importance of continuing to support human rights work in order to provide protection to marginalized groups and victims of human rights in the region.

Falk called for supporting the efforts made by workers in the Euro-Med Monitor during the past eight years, and as well as supporting its work, expressing hope to commemorate its founding anniversary in the coming years in better humanitarian conditions.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor is a youth-led organization headquartered in Geneva, with offices and representatives in several countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe, working to defend human rights and to support victims of occupation and armed conflict, as well as displaced persons and refugees as a result of ongoing conflicts in the region.