BEIRUT -- UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson opened here Monday a three-day annual workshop on the promotion and protection of human rights in Asia and the Pacific regions.

She called for "future activities at the regional, subregional and national level to further the process of regional cooperation for the promotion and protection of human rights."

The workshop, organized by her office at United Nations House in Beirut, was attended by 40 representatives of Asia and Pacific states who were to "discuss human rights related policies and programs ranging from national plans of action, national institutions, human rights education, strategies for the realization of the right to development and economic and cultural rights," said a UN statement.

"The workshop is expected to come up with a series of conclusions and a plan of action. We are seeking to get countries committed to international standards and treaties," said Australia's Representative, Peter Heyward.

"We want to move from the rhetorical level to the practical level," Heyward, deputy permanent representative of the Australian permanent mission to the United Nations, told AFP.

During her visit to Lebanon, Robinson was expected to meet with President Emile Lahoud, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.

Lebanon was the last leg of Robinson's tour in the region that also took her to Egypt and Bahrain.

In Bahrain, Robinson welcomed the Kingdom's decision to hold later this year the first elections in more than a quarter of a century, while in Egypt she condemned Israeli incursions into Palestinian refugee camps.