Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,
I wish you all a warm welcome to Switzerland – which is my country – and to the city of Geneva, the permanent home to the United Nations in its efforts to achieve peace and development and to promote human rights. I also wish to welcome you to this Council which constantly monitors the world’s pulse, universal values and action on human rights.
Our world has become a more uncertain but also a much harsher place.
Conflict zones are being transformed into areas of lawlessness. The people of Syria, Yemen and South Sudan are enduring tremendous suffering. Even humanitarian organisations find themselves in the line of fire and hospitals are being targeted. Millions of men, women and children have been forced to flee and expose themselves to the dangers of the migratory routes where violence predominates over rights.
Violence is being propagated by terrorist groups who trample on the values of humanity – in the face of this threat, many states are responding with more violence and by putting up barriers to civil society, resorting to the death penalty and overtly calling the prohibition of torture into question.
In this context, the world is also becoming an increasingly uncertain and more severe place with regard to freedoms. Being able to express one’s opinions should be self-evident but all too often remains dangerous. Fighting for human rights means risking one’s freedom or life. In the turmoil of the present day, the voices of isolationism are heard above the cries for freedom. There appears to be less desire for joint action while the international human rights framework is being called into question.
However, that is the exact opposite of what is required. More freedoms and rights are needed to ensure greater peace and development. Reducing discrimination and violations of rights helps alleviate the frustration and resentment of individuals and helps to strengthen the society that binds them together.
In short, faced with the challenges presented by an increasingly uncertain and harsher world, human rights represent exactly the type of strong response that we can provide together. It signifies a response for peace, prosperity and the security of everyone.
However, such a response must be a joint effort to ensure it is strong enough to have an effective impact on people in all parts of the world. It is a matter we need to debate together, especially here at the Human Rights Council in Geneva. We need to engage in dialogue, listen to one another’s views and take action together.
My country Switzerland proposes three priorities for this dialogue and action on human rights.
First priority: we need to significantly enhance our joint capabilities for preventing violence and conflict. The added value of multilateral institutions is measured by their actual capacity to reduce the threats to peace and security.
Switzerland primarily wishes to contribute to prevention. We share the desire of the UN’s new Secretary-General to focus action on prevention and mediation. Switzerland is strengthening its mediation capabilities and indeed those of our shared world. In close cooperation with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, we will begin participating – together with other countries – on a master’s degree in peace mediation this year. Together we will train the next generation of mediators.
Furthermore, this Human Rights Council can play a vital role in conflict prevention if it makes its voice heard at an early enough stage. This is the aim of the appeal launched by Switzerland and around 70 other states on 13 June 2016 in this forum to put human rights at the heart of conflict prevention.
We wish to step up the exchanges between Geneva and New York. Steps are being taken in the right direction, such as the debate at the Security Council last December on the strengthening of the rights of women which highlighted how cooperation between the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in Geneva and the Security Council in New York can be enhanced. Another such step is the debate here this afternoon specifically dedicated to the contribution of human rights to peacebuilding. Progress is being made and I would like to thank you all for contributing to these efforts.
The second priority for dialogue and action on human rights is the need to strengthen our collective capabilities.
We propose that we aim to ensure the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has the resources required to properly perform its duties. Switzerland wishes to lead the way here and intends to increase its financial contribution to the Office of the High Commissioner this year.
Bolstering our joint capabilities will also ensure an effective Human Rights Council where discussions are transparent and allow everyone – including the human rights defenders – to interact freely. In specific terms, Switzerland will contribute both as a member of this Council and Vice President in 2017 as well as by undergoing its third Universal Periodic Review in November.
Strengthening our collective response is a way of demonstrating joint commitment to tackling the challenges of our times. One example is supporting the global compact on migration. We will only succeed in providing responses to migration by acting together in cooperation and partnership. The drawing-up of the global compact presents an opportunity to work together on the deep-rooted causes of migration, to take account of the vulnerability of migrants and to ensure that human rights provide a solution to the problems.
Switzerland is willing to show strong commitment to this global compact on migration and to make the expertise and platform of Geneva available to everyone.
The third priority for our dialogue and action is that we must work together to implement human rights and thus also combat the impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators of human rights violations. This is a matter of ensuring justice and lasting peace.
In this respect, Switzerland will now provide financial support for the new international mechanism established in Geneva tasked with facilitating investigations into the most serious violations of international law committed in Syria since March 2011. We must prevent the climate of impunity from contributing to the prolongation of conflicts.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,
We wish you every success as you prepare to write a new chapter in the history of the Human Rights Council. We wish to thank you for your joint commitment to this dialogue and action aimed at conflict prevention and developing our joint capabilities to ensure the effective implementation of the rights of every human being in this world which we share.