Cinema to Stand up for Human Rights

A short documentary developed by Médecins du Monde, a French non- governmental organisation will be screened to better understand the barriers in accessing Sexual and Reproductive Health ( SRH) services will be screened as part of the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the international day for Human Rights on December 10.

Jointly organised by the French Embassy, the French Agency for Development ( AFD), Médecins du Monde ( MDM) and the Alliance Française de Kotte, the film ‘Sexual And Reproductive Health For All – Reality of plantation communities’ will be screened during the celebration from 6.30pm to 7.30pm at the Alliance Française de Kotte (Auditorium).

The documentary developed by Médecins du Monde will be screened to show how the project has impacted the lives of communities in the Northern and Central Provinces of Sri Lanka.

The screening will be followed by questions and answers with MDM’s team to deeper discuss and encourage further reflection.

In Sri Lanka, despite the adapted health services and good indicators, marginalized communities still face significant barriers in accessing Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) information and services, which create adverse effects on the health and wellbeing of women and youth, the organizers stated.

Equal and holistic access to health services, gender equality, women and youth empowerment are key objectives of the French international action. France, especially through the expertise and programmes developed by the French Agency for Development, has been involved for decades in the effort to develop access to sexual and reproductive health all around the world, they added.

Médecins du Monde ( Doctors of the World-MDM), a French non-governmental organisation, had implemented, in 2016, a 30- month project in Sri Lanka, co- financed by AFD, aimed at improving access to qualitative SRH services and advocating the integration of the plantation health sector within the public health system.

Seventy years ago, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) consecrating, for the first time, all women and men free and equal in rights as autonomous subjects of international law.