Remarks by Mr. Mogens Lykketoft, President of the 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, at High Level Lunch on Women, Crime Prevention, Criminal Justice and the Post 2015 Development Agenda
30 September 2015
Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, good afternoon.
Let me begin by thanking the Permanent Missions of Qatar, Italy and Thailand and the UNODC for organizing this event.
Today’s discussion, less than a week since the historic 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted, can help ensure that criminal justice policies reflect the needs, voices and valuable contributions of women.
The new Agenda has underlined very clearly just how fundamental the rule of law, human rights and effective, accountable and transparent institutions are for eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable development.
And at the centre of efforts across each of these areas are the contributions by women in every community and society throughout the world.
But as we see on a daily basis from stories in our media, violence, including sexual violence, discrimination and impunity plague the lives of women and young girls right around the world.
The UN and its Member States are however, developing strong platforms to overcome violence and discrimination, and ensuring that the voices of women are heard loudly and clearly.
As you all know, the Doha Declaration, adopted at last year’s congress, calls for crime prevention and criminal justice to be integrated into the wider UN agenda, and for the rights of women and girls to be fully mainstreamed into this endeavour.
The new 2030 Agenda does just that. While gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls have been incorporated right across the 17 goals, the dedicated Goal on gender equality and that on promoting peaceful, inclusive and just societies are excellent examples of this integrated approach.
But to move from goals to change, we need to see clear, decisive and committed action by all countries and all actors. And we need to see early action that is by and for women.
In relation to criminal justice, this means building a culture of rule of law that embraces young people; preventing crime, supporting victims and ensuring access to justice. And it means providing civil society groups with an environment in which they can conduct their work to combat all violence and its structural causes.
As President of this 70th session, I will organise three high levels events focussing on action across the UN’s three pillars to advance this new Agenda. I look forward to your participation and engagement in these events.
Ladies and gentlemen, over the coming years, let us work together, in an integrated manner so as to ensure that poverty, discrimination and violence no longer limit the life opportunities of women and girls.
I thank you.