The 13th World Human Rights Cities Forum - Day 1

Today, on the first day of the Forum, rainy clouds glooming over until just the day before, cleared out and the venue was bathed in sunshine. The WHRCF team would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the speakers and participants who came not only from Korea, but also from all over the world to attend the Forum. Let’s us take a look at ‘Day 1’ photos from various corners of the Forum venue!

Opening Ceremony & Roundtable crowded with on-site participants

At 4 PM, the venue of the Opening Ceremony and Roundtable, the Convention Hall on the 4th floor, was crowded with on-site participants - extra chairs were needed to be brought as all the seats were full!

Ha-joon Chang, professor of economics at the SOAS University of London remarked the following about the topic: "Many agree on the need to fight poverty, but if we try to fix inequality, opinions differ“. Also adding, "If inequality is left untackled, not only economic rights but also, rights in all other areas are threatened, so we need to find ways to resolve the inequalities", and stressing the importance of this year’s theme.

Interviews with the speakers held on the venue

“Youth Reporters” conducted the interviews, putting importance on the questions from the point of view of young generations and asking about the actions that youth can do in response to poverty and inequalities, while also wanting to find out speaker’s first impressions of the Forum. Today's interviewees were Mayor of Singkawang, Mr. Sumastro, and Ms. Jaleswari Pramodhawardani, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Executive Office of the President of Indonesia, who were among 20 delegates who came to the 13th WHRCF from Indonesia. The full text of both of the interviews will be available on our official website shortly.