BEIRUT: A draft National Action Plan for Human Rights was launched in Parliament Monday, on the occasion of the U.N. Human Rights Day, and covers a comprehensive raft of legislation, from judicial reform to the rights of women and children. The action plan – a 195 page document – was drafted by the Parliament’s Human Rights Committee, civil society groups, the U.N. Development Program and the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Lebanon, and has been in the works for seven years.

Lebanon was one of the member states behind the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly on Dec. 10, 1948. Speaking at the launch, which was attended by Speaker Nabih Berri, U.N. Resident Representative in Lebanon Robert Watkins said that the creation of the draft demonstrated Lebanon’s commitment to the 1948 declaration. [Link]