–as a result of continuous efforts to strengthen national systems, PM Phillips, Minister Teixeira emphasise

WHETHER it be the construction of roads or the implementation of social programmes, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government has continuously strengthened national systems to ensure that citizens have access to a good quality of life, Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d), Mark Phillips has said.
In his address at the fourth edition of the Annual Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Expo on Tuesday, the Prime Minister said that human rights and integrity shape the environment in which development takes place.

This year’s conference is being held under the theme: “Our Everyday Essentials: Rights and Integrity” and aligns with two major global observances — International Day against Corruption (December 9) and International Human Rights Day (December 10) bringing together over 40 constitutional bodies, statutory agencies, oversight institutions and key stakeholders.
“The agencies and commissions represented here have a wide range of mandates, yet their work links to a shared purpose, and that purpose is strengthening national systems so they function fairly responsibly and transparently.
“Human Rights has a practical role, therefore, in national progress and development, they implement how people live, how institutions operate and how development outcomes are distributed,” the Prime Minister said.
Phillips stressed that the protection of rights supports social stability, which in turn promotes economic confidence.
“People can rely on equal treatment under the law, access to justice, non-discrimination, safety and clear avenues for redress. They are better positioned to practise, to participate in national life,” he added.
The Prime Minister reminded stakeholders that human rights concerns can arise in many forms, and to this end, the government has made the necessary investments to ensure that citizens have access to avenues where they can seek support and redress.

“Human rights concerns arise in many forms. They appear in the experiences of workers seeking fair employment practices; women seeking protection from violence; children requiring safe environments. Persons with disabilities navigating public spaces and citizens who expect proper conduct from public institutions,” he said.
The Prime Minister added: “The People’s Progressive Party/ Civic administration recognises how critical it is to address human rights concerns and ensure that sufficient measures are in place to take care of our people.”
The government has introduced several measures to strengthen respect for rights and improve public-service delivery.
These include enacting stronger penalties for attempts to incite racial hostility; ensuring policies aimed at equal pay for equal work; expanding shelters and assistance for victims of domestic and gender-based violence; introducing and enforcing anti-discrimination legislation, including measures related to sexual orientation.
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, said the government highlighted too the creation of eponymous groups to address government actions on human rights and anti-corruption.
She noted that while efforts are being made at the government level, there has been a lack of awareness on the support that is readily available to address concerns.
And this is where the conference plays a key role as a unique approach in showcasing government agencies, constitutional bodies, and oversight bodies working on human rights and anti-corruption efforts.
“We’re trying to make it more real and have more interactive [sic] with the public,” the minister said, adding: “We’ve been doing things and never documenting them, really, in our framework, and that helped us to then look at the connections with human rights. We have started— last year in the exhibition— talking about a whole-of-society approach to issues of human rights and corruption, and getting into issues of addressing integrity as a foundation for our society.”
This approach, the minister said, has seen not only government agencies being more proactive, but also private-sector agencies and civil society organisations fostering a new culture of integrity and ethics.
Minister Teixeira further reiterated the importance of dignity, justice, and equality, and how these rights are integrated into government and parliamentary work.
“We are very excited and proud of what we’ve done. We recognise and there’s always room for improvement. We recognise that the struggle for human rights, the struggle to end corruption, is not a fast one, is not an easy one, but one in which we are making progress. We are making steps forward,” Minister Teixeira said.