Representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Director of Field Operations and Technical Co-operation Division of the OHCHR, Georgette Gagnon, underlined the importance of the International Conference on “Social Media: Challenges and Ways to Promote Freedoms and Protect Activists”, which concluded in Doha yesterday, in terms of its theme, the qualitative participations, and its outcome, in light of the continuous talk and the convergence between social media and traditional journalism, and the role of human rights organisations in promoting these rights and spreading their culture.
In a statement to QNA, Gagnon praised the positive role carried out by Qatar’s National Human Rights Committee, and stressed the need for such committees and organisations anywhere in the world to be independent, non-discriminatory and not biased, and to always strive to consolidate human rights at all levels around the world.
She noted that the issue of human rights has become a global issue, therefore its standards must be global and credible.
Gagnon commended the outcome of the conference and its recommendations, and stressed the importance for these recommendations to receive an international attention as they are of concern to everyone.
She believed that these results and recommendations will frame the way in which social media is used in a manner that leads to a positive response, and that the conference outcomes and outputs should receive attention from governments, civil society, and social media activists.
A section of the audience at International Conference on Social Media in Doha yesterday.
