HUMAN rights groups and families of victims of extrajudicial
victims are expected to protest the decision of United Nations secretary-general
Ban Ki-moon naming of the Philippines to the Advisory Board of the UN Democracy
Fund.
Charge d’Affaires Leslie Gatan of the Permanent Philippine
Mission to the UN said the country has accepted the appointment which was
formally relayed by UN deputy secretary-general Asha-Rose Migiro to Ambassador
Hilario Davide Jr.
International organizations and Prof. Philip Alston, the UN
special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, had earlier assailed the
Philippine government and military over the unresolved slays of more than 800
activists.
Gatan said that as UNDEF member, the Philippines can be
expected to provide policy guidance for the development of program and funding
guidelines, and to recommend funding proposals for approval by the UN chief.
Gatan said the Philippines now joins Mali, Mozambique, Peru,
Romania, and Vanuatu – all selected by the UN chief on the basis of geographic
representation – in the 19-member Advisory Board to the UNDEF. The board also
includes seven representatives from the largest contributors to the UNDEF,
namely, Australia, Germany, India, Japan, Qatar, and the United States, two
representatives from international NGOs, and four personal representatives of
the UN chief.
Established in 2005, the UNDEF is a general trust fund
intended to support global democratization efforts by financing projects that
build and strengthen democratic institutions, promote human rights, and ensure
the participation of all groups in democratic processes.
UNDEF’s previously approved projects includes the "Media, Democracy and
Development in the Philippines" of the Philippine-based Center for Community
Journalism and Development which seeks to strengthen Philippine media amid
recent challenges coming from the Arroyo government. – Anthony Ian Cruz
