Excellencies,
It is my pleasure to participate in this annual high-level panel discussion on human rights mainstreaming.
Today’s event coincides with the 10th anniversary of the Voluntary Technical Assistance Trust Fund to support the participation of LDCs and SIDs in the work of the Human Rights Council.
The trust fund was conceived out of the realization that for the global human rights agenda to be meaningful and comprehensive, all voices must be heard.
It is appropriate and symbolic that it arose from the initiatives of SIDs and LDCs, including from that of the Maldives during its membership of the HRC in 2012.
I am heartened by the strides we are making towards including under-represented countries in the work of human rights.
Excellencies,
It is crucial that we continue in the direction of more inclusivity.
Together, LDCs and SIDs comprise 40 percent of UN member states.
Including them in the work of the Human Rights Council ensures that their priorities and concerns are acknowledged and reflected in our work.
It ensures that we are better positioned to identify and address the human rights concerns of all communities.
Excellencies,
I am proud to note that ‘respecting the rights’ of all is one of the key priorities of my Presidency of Hope.
And I acknowledge and applaud the role of the Council in respecting and promoting human rights on a global scale.
I am committed to doing all that I can to support its work, and strengthen its most effective tools, including the Trust Fund.
The Trust Fund is now celebrated as a success story in technical cooperation and capacity building in the field of human rights.
It has enabled 172 government officials from the 72 eligible LDCs and SIDs to attend the regular sessions of the Council.
It has helped us make strides in gender equality, with 104 beneficiaries being women.
It has also enhanced inclusivity for persons with disabilities.
The Trust Fund should be praised for its role in strengthening the capacity and expertise of its beneficiaries by exposing to the different universal mechanisms.
Many former beneficiaries of the Trust Fund are now human rights experts and have been posted in multilateral missions, including in New York and Geneva. Others have been included as part of their delegations participating the Universal Periodic Review.
To take on example, the trust fund supported a visually impaired female delegate from Antigua and Barbuda – a country that does not have a permanent mission in Geneva – to head her country’s UPR delegation, last November.
It has directly benefited my office also, as one beneficiary of the Trust Fund, Ms. Deandra Vivincia Cartwright from the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, serves ably on my team.
Excellencies,
For 10 years donors have played a vital role in supporting the fund.
At this critical moment, as the world grapples with the consequences of a devastating pandemic, let us make sure that the fund retains sufficient resources to fulfil its mandate.
And let us always uphold the principles of diversity and inclusivity in the global human rights agenda – principles we must pass on to the next generation.
They are the only ones positioned to one day uphold our legacies, and to refine and strengthen the global human rights architecture.
The understanding that youth are critical to continuing the work of multilateralism is why I earlier launched the PGA’s Fellowship for HOPE.
Under this fellowship eight young diplomats from underrepresented countries have joined my office, where they will gain knowledge and skills to support their nations in the field of multilateralism, including as it relates to the protection and promotion of human rights.
It is a Fellowship whose values and intentions are fully aligned with those of the Trust Fund.
Going forward, we must build on these initiatives. We must endeavor to include all voices in the human rights discussion and agenda.
And we must make an active effort to include previously underrepresented voices, acknowledging that they too have an equal stake in our dialogues, and an equal capacity to make contributions.
That is how we will build a just world that secures the human rights of all.
And with those sentiments, I wish you all a very productive discussion.
Thank you.
