Ministry Statements & Speeches:
New Zealand welcomes the report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, including its causes and consequences, and we note the significance of the milestone of the 25th anniversary of this mandate.
We wish to thank past and present Special Rapporteurs for their work over the last 25 years to highlight violence against women as a violation of women’s human rights and fundamental freedoms, and a serious form of gender-based discrimination.
Unfortunately, the relevance and need for this mandate continues in light of persistent violations, systemic challenges to eliminating discrimination and violence against women. We are concerned at the emerging ‘pushback’ movements that seek to undermine the existing rights and freedoms of women and prevent their contemporary development.
We recognise the complexity of this issue, particularly since it is a persistent problem in our own country, and concur with the Special Rapporteur’s call for a system-wide approach, particularly:
- the need to better understand the interrelationship between discrimination and violence against women
- Improved mandate collaboration; and
- integrated implementation of relevant Conventions and resolutions, such as the UN Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security, to prevent silos and promote unified action.
Only by deepening our understanding and working together can we hope to reach our goal of eliminating violence against women and gender-based discrimination.
New Zealand urges member states to support the renewal of the Special Rapporteur’s mandate to enable her to carry on her work on this important issue.