The convergence between human rights and the 2030 Agenda is a topic of great importance for the entire United Nations system as well as for each individual State, and especially for developing countries. I very much welcome the opportunity that I have been given this morning to express to you my vision not only as President of the Human Rights …
In its weekend edition of 15-16 February 2014, the Financial Times serialised extracts from a recent book: ‘In 100 years: Leading Economists Predict the Future,’ edited by Ignacio Palacios-Huerta and published by MIT Press. In one of the extracts, Nobel Laureate for economics, Robert Shiller, Professor of Economics at Yale University, wrote that the next century carries with important risks …
The central importance of the Council’s mandate, as set down in GA resolution 60/251, to provide ‘advisory services, technical assistance and capacity-building … in consultation with and with the consent of Member States concerned,’ is, I believe, self-evident. For many developing countries, especially Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS), the task of engaging, in a meaningful …
Wednesday 7th June 2017, Geneva As expected, all the talk on day one of the 35th session of the UN Human Rights Council was on the visit of America’s Ambassador to the United Nations, H.E. Ms Nikki Haley, and the message she brought about the Trump Administration’s views and position on the Council and the US’s role therein. In the end, Ambassador Haley’s …
As the Geneva diplomatic world prepares for the Human Rights Council’s 35th session, all the talk is of the much-anticipated visit of Nikki Haley, America’s ambassador to the UN. With a certain masochistic relish, diplomats wonder aloud whether President Trump’s senior multilateral envoy will show the Council a yellow card (giving it one last chance to ‘improve’ its behaviour), or a straight …
On April 18th, Nikki Haley, the United States Permanent Representative in New York and President of the Security Council, called a thematic debate on human rights and the prevention of armed conflict. During the debate, the US made an important and valid point: that human rights violations are an important root cause – and early warning sign – of ‘real …
In the aftermath of the so-called ‘Danish cartoons crisis’ in 2005, the political, policy and academic world was replete with debates over the benefits or risks of ‘blasphemy laws.’ The debates highlighted a profound gap between those who believed that mocking religion (the faith, the tenets, the sacraments, the symbols, etc.) should not be tolerated and those who argued that …
‘Discrimination’ (racism, xenophobia and religious intolerance); ‘human rights, the Sustainable Development Goals and the right to development;’ the rights of migrants and refugees; prevention; the ‘Implementation Agenda;’ violent extremism, radicalisation and terrorism; and women’s rights; among most frequently referenced subjects during 2017 high-level segment of the Human Rights Council High-level segments (HLS) of the UN Human Rights Council (Council), held …
A comparative analysis of Council and Third Committee resolutions The relationship between the Third Committee of the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council sometimes appears not dissimilar to that of two brothers. Like brothers, for the most part, these two key UN human rights bodies get on well, with both understanding that they are part of the same family …
22nd February 2017, Geneva …
