The Asia-Pacific office of a prestigious international human rights organization was established in Taiwan on Tuesday, with the goal of focusing on regional issues such as poverty, labor exploitation, human trafficking and racial discrimination, the Ministry of Culture said at an event in Japan on Tuesday.
The Asia-Pacific office of the Federation of International Human Rights Museums is also to serve as an important platform to create links between Taiwan and international human rights organizations, the ministry said in a statement at the International Council of Museums’ 25th general conference in Japan.
Established in 2010, the office encourages museums that engage with sensitive and controversial human rights themes to work together and share new concepts and initiatives in a supportive environment, the office’s Web site says.
Linked with the National Human Rights Museum in New Taipei City, where it is based, the office would also help promote transitional justice, heal historical scars and promote reconciliation through dialogue, the ministry said.
Such actions would serve to transform negative heritage into a legacy for modern democracy and human rights, while laying the foundations for peace, the ministry said.
The primary goals of the office are to raise awareness of regional issues such as poverty, child labor, labor exploitation, human trafficking, religious conflicts, racial discrimination and genocide, internally displaced people and cross-border refugees, migrant workers, sexual violence and discrimination against women, the ministry said.
David Fleming, founding president of the Federation of International Human Rights Museums, told the conference that Taiwan has diverse cultural and ethnic groups, and works hard to promote human rights, the ministry said.
The establishment of the office at the National Human Rights Museum would promote greater discussions about human rights in the region, the ministry quoted Fleming as saying.
The National Human Rights Museum, which was established last year, is the first of its kind in Asia built on a site where human rights abuses were carried out, according to the ministry.
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