Remarks by President General Assembly,
H.E Dennis Francis
at the opening of the 55th session of the Human Rights Council
Monday, 26 February 2024
(As DELIVERED)
Your Excellency Omar Zniber, President of the Human Rights Council,
Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Volker Türk, 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 des Nations – to participate at 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 – humanity’s 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 per cent of the population displaced, teetering on the brink of starvation, and trapped in the depths of an impending though avoidable public health catastrophe. [1]
As the all-too-familiar cycle of war persists, the most vulnerable suffer 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 signs of cessation 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, jeopardizing 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 our forebearers 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 (UNRWA), to discharge its mandated responsibilities to the Palestinians. Even in the midst of the current extraordinary challenges, UNRWA has been and continues to be an indispensable lifeline of support to the Palestinians.
Across the globe, the inhumane brutality and suffering must stop.
We must not simply stand-by as callous observers, less we be seen as complicit in the expanding web of dehumanization. No! We must do our part.
The decisive role of this august Council is crucial in our collective efforts.
Excellencies,
I hold firmly to my belief 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 deriving from chattel slavery. We must re-assert our resolve to root out structural racism, poverty, and pervasive inequality.
And on 17 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 interlinkages between the 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.
Excellencies,
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 practices often rationalized in cultural terms and visited upon the female of our species – 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 society as a whole.
While I welcome recent news that a cohort of female secondary school graduates in Afghanistan will be “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 full and equal participation in all spheres of community activity.
Gender equality must be dealt with as a matter of moral urgency in Afghanistan and elsewhere. We cannot meaningfully achieve the SDGs and close the inequality gap between North and South while effectively marginalizing 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 campaign 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 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 the day, while being fit for purpose in securing the priorities and meeting the challenges that confront future generations.
Excellencies,
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 joint quest for solutions.
Our undiminished faith in the Universal Declaration for Human Rights – and renewed commitment to the promotion and protection of all human rights – must remain the eternal guidelight to achieving a brighter rights-based future for all, everywhere.
I thank you.
