International Human Rights Day

I'm cheating a bit, as today is International Human Rights Day and a national holiday in Cambodia, but I'm at the office and wasn't able to join the party organised at Wat Phnom this morning. Organisers had planned a bigger celebration but didn't get the appropriate permissions until the last minute, hence the low-key celebration attended by more than 200 people earlier today. However, I did get a taster of it yesterday morning outside the Chenla Theatre on my way to Phnom Baset. The colourful costumes, a band of drummers and musicians and people handing out leaflets and stickers made it a good start to my day and highlighted the need to continue to keep human rights on the agenda, both nationally and internationally. Today is the 59th International Human Rights Day, a day designated to raise awareness of our rights, and of those who are deprived of those rights.