The 11th Budapest Human Rights Forum comes to a close in Hungary today.
The two-day forum has garnered international interest following its focus on the right to education, the protection of religious minorities and the relationship between sustainable development and human rights.
Held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, is aimed at establishing dialogue between the representatives of various governments, international organizations and individuals.
During the event, Péter Sztáray, Minister of State for Security Policy, stressed that the world is facing increasingly complicated security issues, such as illegal and uncontrolled migration, terrorism and extremism, and disregard for minority rights, all of which have human rights aspects.
“While respecting the essence of human rights, the Hungarian government handles human rights issues together with the issue of security, in a complex manner,” he said.
The minister of state also pointed out that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed 70 years ago, and Hungary remains committed to its goals today.
Marc Limon, Managing Director of think tank the Universal Rights Group, highlighted that many people think that the world is slipping into a human rights crisis. The primary reason for this is that we tend to notice only the negatives and larger countries, while progress is most often perceptible in smaller states.
Limon added that there are many reasons for hope in view of the fact that the majority of countries have made progress within the field of respecting human rights.