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HRC 55 - Statement of the President of the UN General Assembly - 26 February 2024
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Human Rights Council 55th session (HRC 55) - Opening - 26 February 2024
Opening of session and High-level segment (HLS) including the opening statements of:
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- Omar Zniber, President of the UN Human Rights Council
- Dennis Francis, President of the UN General Assembly
- António Guterres, UN Secretary-General
- Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
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Please, see attached PDF for the opening statements.
Opening statements by:
- Omar Zniber, President of the UN Human Rights Council
- Dennis Francis, President of the UN General Assembly
- António Guterres, UN Secretary-General
- Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Photos of António Guterres, UN Secretary-General at the opening of the 55th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council.
Teleprompter
Your Excellency Omar Zer,
president of the Human Rights Council.
Mr. Antonio Gutierrez,
Secretary General of the United Nations.
Mr. Volcker took
United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights
Excellencies Distinguished participants.
It is truly a personal delight for me to be back in Geneva
and here at the historic Palais de
N
to participate in this 55th session of the Human Rights Council.
At the outset, I should like to extend my warm congratulations to you,
Mr President,
and to the other bureau members for their deserved election.
And I wish you every success for the sessions ahead
succeed we must
under your able leadership.
75 years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights
Humanities cherished Magna Carta,
it is deeply concerning that human rights are under grave and increasing threat
around the world
conflicts.
Climate impacts,
including the existential threat of sea level rise
and other drivers,
have left a staggering 300 million people
in dire need of humanitarian assistance.
Some 114 million of them
being refugees and other displaced peoples
in the Gaza Strip.
The suffering of innocent civilians
has reached an unbearable tipping point
with over 90% of the population displaced,
teetering on the brink of starvation
and trapped in the depths
of an impending though avoidable public health catastrophe.
As the all too familiar cycle of war persists,
the most vulnerable suffer the most.
Hostages and their families are living in anguish.
Women and Children are facing desperate
and uncertain futures,
and innocent civilians are unjustly caught
in life threatening crossfire.
The war in Ukraine, now in its third year,
has only grown more entrenched
with no foreseeable sign of sex.
In
the short term,
Haiti has descended into lawlessness,
while persistent violence across Yemen,
Sudan,
Myanmar
and elsewhere
has exacerbated the human rights situation
with deepening concern
in the Sahel.
The impact of strife and environmental stressors
has led to a resurgence of famine,
jeopardising the right to food
and proper nutrition for millions
and across the globe.
Threats to democracy
and the rise of authoritarianism
have impacted everything
from freedom of speech and movement
to denial of education for girls and access to due process
by many others.
These events, which can only be described as regressive,
have called into question the depth of our commitment
to the very principles we swore to uphold
75 years ago.
Namely,
that human rights are universal,
indivisible, interdependent
and interrelated
and above all, else
being universal.
They are applicable to
and must be enjoyed by all
in equal measure
without exception.
As president of the General Assembly,
my message to you today is simple and unequivocal.
We must not fail the victims,
the victims of human rights violations.
We must never tolerate or ignore the flagrant disregard
for the rights and freedoms of forbearers worked so arduously to define
and to codify.
Nor should we ignore the systemic impunity
with which it is perpetrated
in the name of humanity.
We, the United Nations
must vehemently use our commanding platforms
to speak up and to speak out
louder
in demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire
in the Gaza Strip
and for the opening of corridors to render urgently needed assistance and care
to the 1.5 million displaced
and unhoused Palestinians.
Furthermore,
I implore donor states
to uphold and sustain their contributions
to the critical funding necessary
for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency
for Palestine Refugees in the Near East UN
R
to discharge its mandate mandated responsibilities to the Palestinians.
Even in the midst of the current extraordinary challenges.
URA
has been and continues to be an indispensable lifeline
to support the Palestinians
across the globe. The inhuman
brutality and suffering
must stop.
We must not simply stand by as callous observers,
lest we be seen as complicit
in the expanding web of dehumanisation.
No,
we must do our part.
The decisive role of this August council
is crucial
in our collective efforts.
I hold firmly to my beliefs
that systems of entrenched inequality
cannot be dismantled without honestly confronting the legacies
of past injustices.
Next month
in the General Assembly,
we will mark the International Day of Remembrance
of the Victims of Slavery
as well as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination,
followed by the third session of the Permanent Forum
on People of African Descent.
These events will be opportunities to acknowledge
the
debilitating legacy of suffering
by people of African descent
derived from shuttle slavery.
We must reassert our resolve to root out structural, racism,
poverty and pervasive inequality.
And on 17th April,
I will convene a high level commemorative meeting
to mark the 10th anniversary of the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples.
This session,
the negotiations will continue on enhancing the participation
of indigenous peoples, representatives and institutions
in relevant United Nations meetings and conferences.
The upcoming fourth International Conference
on Small Island Developing States
and the General Assembly's high level meeting on addressing
the existential threats posed by sea level rise will provide much needed platforms
to raise awareness about the interlinks between climate crisis
and human rights.
Another critical discussion during this session
will focus on the role of the ombudsman and mediator institutions
in the promotion and protection of human rights,
good governance
and the rule of law.
As a gender champion myself,
I will continue my advocacy for gender equality and the empowerment of women
and girls throughout my presidency,
working in close consultation
with my advisory board and with my special adviser on this issue,
because the cold reality is
that we continue to witness frightening setbacks
in the recognition of and respect for the rights of women and girls.
Harmful practises
visited upon the female of the species
and often rationalised in cultural terms
including child marriage and female genital mutilation,
remain prevalent.
Meanwhile, women remain significantly underrepresented
in positions of power and influence
around the world. We see them deprived of even the most basic rights,
including the right to an education
with decisive consequences for themselves
and for the society as a whole.
While I welcome recent news
that a cohort of female secondary school graduates
in Afghanistan
will be quote unquote permitted
to attend medical school,
such piecemeal steps fall far short
of the progress that all Afghan women deserve. That is
their right to full and equal access to education
and the full and equal participation
in all spheres of community life.
Gender equality
must therefore be dealt with as a matter of moral urgency
in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
We cannot meaningfully achieve
the sustainable development goals
and close the inequality gap
between north and south,
while effectively marginalising half of humanity
from actively participating in all spheres of economic,
political and social activity
in order to promote a more equal,
inclusive and respectful workplace at the UN and beyond.
It pleases me to advise that in conjunction with UN women
and your good self, Mr President of the Human Rights Council,
I am launching a training programme here in Geneva
to help prevent sexual harassment
and to promote gender equality in the workplace.
I note with pleasure
that this year's high level panel discussion on human rights mainstreaming
in the council
focuses on the rights of persons with disabilities
and their effective participation and inclusion in society.
We need to make better progress in
promoting the rights of persons with disabilities
and in strengthening mechanisms for a more inclusive United Nations,
respecting our own edict of leaving no one
behind.
In that regard,
I am committed to intensifying the effort
to promote and to achieve
the full participation of persons with disabilities
in the work of the UN.
The onus is upon us
to work across sectors and borders with all stakeholders
to collectively deliver the desired outcomes.
For my part, I continue to work to strengthen the engagement of civil society
in the UN's work,
and to that end,
I am looking forward to meeting with
the Geneva based civil society representatives tomorrow.
This is all the more important
as we look ahead to the summit of the future in September,
where world leaders are expected to reaffirm
a shared commitment to recapture the unity
and strength of our currently beleaguered multilateral system,
one that can effectively respond to the pressing issues of today
while being fit for purpose in securing the priorities
and meeting the challenges that confront future generations.
Excellency is distinguished delegates.
Eleanor
Roosevelt once
famously advised
that human rights begin in small places.
Years later,
we must keep the spotlight on the small places
on the schools, hospitals, prisons and other settings
where rights are denied,
where global attention has waned
and where solidarity has the transformative power
of a lifetime.
As I close,
I urge you all
to harness the enormous strength
and credibility of this council
as a platform for focused dialogue
and the joint search for solutions.
Our undiminished faith in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights
and renewed commitment to the promotion and protection of all human rights
must remain
must remain the eternal guideline
to achieving a brighter
rights based future for all
everywhere.
I thank you.
Thank you.