Ministry Statements & Speeches:
I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of Australia, Canada, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and my own country New Zealand.
We wish to thank Norway for its leadership on this resolution, and for engaging all interested delegations in a transparent, inclusive and constructive manner. We welcome the adoption of this important resolution by consensus.
This resolution is particularly timely given 2023 marks the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 25th anniversary of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. We acknowledge and welcome the work of human rights defenders around the world contributing to the implementation of the UDHR, of internationally agreed human rights standards, and to strengthening the rule of law.
We welcome the focus of this year’s resolution on women and girls and that it addresses the persistence of multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination against women and girls, as well as all forms of violence against women and girls.
We consider it particularly important that this resolution highlights sexual and gender-based violence, as well as defamation, stigmatization, smear campaigns and hate speech. These are all forms of violence that women human rights defenders are particularly likely to experience in their line of work through attempts to undermine their legitimacy and silence them.
We also welcome the important recognition in this text that those promoting access to sexual and reproductive health services may face stigma and violence. Restrictive or discriminatory legislation, gender stereotypes, and negative social norms can amplify these risks and embolden perpetrators of violence.
Lastly, we wish to emphasise our firm view on the importance of including recognition of the work of human rights defenders, not only in this resolution but across the broad agenda of the Third Committee.
We wish to take this opportunity to underline the importance of protecting and strengthening civil society participation, including human rights defenders, here at the UN, to ensure that valuable and meaningful exchanges with UN Member States take place on an ongoing basis.
Thank you.