Inimõiguste Nõukogu 36.sessioon
Nordic-Baltic Intervention by H.E. Ambassador AndrePung, Estonia
Annual discussion on the integration of a gender perspective
Genf, 15. september 2017
Check against delivery
Mr.President,
Distinguishedpanellists,
I have the honour of making thisintervention on behalf of Denmark,Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and Estonia.
Women and girls areentitled to live with dignity, with full respect for their integrity, and freefrom fear and discrimination.
Discrimination againstwomen and girls should not be accepted under any circumstances. There should bezero tolerance of harmful practices and we should not accept anything but ensuringwomen’s full and effective participation at all levels of decision-making inthe political, economic and public life. It is also our belief that we cannotprogress with equality unless we ensure universal access to sexual andreproductive health and rights to all women and girls.
The fulfilment of women’sand girls’ rights as well as ensuring gender equality are crucial elements inthe fight against poverty and in ensuring sustainable development. Combating and eliminating all forms ofviolence against women is also a necessary precondition, as it has an enormousnegative economic impact on entire societies. Therefore, raisingawareness and collecting data about these costs gives a strong additionalincentive to seek gender equality as a factor of global economic prosperity. In our countries, we haveexperienced how important women’s empowerment is for inclusivesocial and economic development. While non-discrimination is first and foremost a humanright, striving for gender equality further has positive spill-over effects thatbenefits the whole society. Research has also revealed that gender equalityalso benefits the well-being and health of individual men and women.
Through the 2030 agenda and its SDGs, in particulargoal 3 and 5, States have committed to advancing gender equality and women’sempowerment, including women’s right to control their own bodies and sexuality.Here, the UPR can play an important part in helping to mainstream the humanrights of women and girls.
The UPR is a unique tool inthat it allows each state the opportunity to evaluate, first and foremost, ourown progress and achievements, as well as shortcomings, to lead the way tobetter implementation, also by advancing national dialogue and engagingdifferent stakeholders, including women and girls. A large number of UPRrecommendations do relate to the rights of women and girls. We call upon statesto use women’s rights as a lens in both policy-making and in implementing therecommendations.
Just as the UPR and the2030 Agenda are universal tools, the enjoyment of all human rights by every womanand girl should be a universal reality!
Thank you!