Ávarp um heimsmarkmiðin og mannréttindi
Andre Pung, fastafulltrúi Eistlands, flutti í dag ávarp í mannréttindráðinu fyrir hönd Norðurlandanna og Eystrasaltsríkjanna um hlutverk mannréttinda í heimsmarkmiðunum.
Human Rights Council 40th Session.
Item 3: General Debate
8 March 2019
Nordic-Baltic Intervention by H.E. Ambassador Andre Pung, Estonia
Mr. President,
This statement is made on behalf of the Nordic and Baltic countries: Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and my own country, Estonia.
With the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as its foundation, the 2030 Agenda creates a universal framework of action for people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnerships, applicable to all countries. The Agenda explicitly reaffirms that it is to be implemented in accordance with the rights and obligations of States under international law. Human rights, democracy and the rule of law are fundamental prerequisites in implementing the 2030 Agenda. Several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) directly express economic, social and cultural rights. Goal 16 is particularly important in order to prevent and combat the shrinking democratic space globally.
The 2030 Agenda has opened up new avenues to integrate human rights into global, regional, national and local practices and policies. It encourages addressing social, environmental and economic issues with new approaches and engaging all stakeholders in the efforts to achieve the sustainable development goals. And it recognises the need to build inclusive societies based on respect for human rights and on transparent, effective and accountable institutions.
A human rights based approach is crucial to the achievement of the 17 goals while ensuring that no one is left behind. To that end, it is important to share evidence-based initiatives and methodologies and collect comparable data on SDG indicators.
In conclusion, many tools have been developed for countries to use in policies and practices pursuing the SDGs. However, awareness raising on human rights, partnerships and learning from others is needed for such tools to be effective in practice.
To make the world a better place for all of us, we must strengthen a human rights-based approach to the sustainable development goals as our urgent priority. 2030 is not far away. As former Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has said, there is no Plan B.
Thank you!