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Mr Chairman,
May I thank the President of the Human Rights Council, Ambassador Doru Costea for this report. As this makes clear, the Human Rights Council has completed an intensive period of institution-building and is now in a position to move forward. The compromises that all States made in the final negotiation period are reflected in a finely balanced package. Those understandings provide the foundation to take the Council to its next phase: implementation.
As the Council moves into its implementation phase, we will need to adjust to a body that is effectively in regular session throughout the year. There is no denying that it will be a challenge for us all. Transparency and predictability in the Council’s work, including through a clear programme of work, timely notice of initiatives and open negotiation of decisions, will all be essential if the Council is to deliver on the expectations of the international community for this vitally important new United Nations body. We call for greater clarity and consistency as the procedures are established, with a view to ensuring the most efficient and fair procedural arrangements between the Council and other organs of the UN, including this Committee. We acknowledge the need to respect the roles and strengths of each body so that the relationship between the two bodies develops in a way which is complementary.
New Zealand accepts that for the Human Rights Council to be a credible and effective institution, it needs to be realistically resourced. We thank the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for the flexibility and responsiveness it has shown when providing secretariat support to the Council in what has been an unpredictable environment. The OHCHR’s support is critical to the success of the Human Rights Council. It should be resourced to provide the additional support the Council has requested, in particular to service the universal periodic review, without detriment to its existing broader human rights protection and promotion priorities and programmes.
There is a unique opportunity in the coming months to ensure that a gender perspective is integrated in the Council’s work from the outset. We encourage all stakeholders to give serious consideration to nominating experienced and well qualified female candidates for election or appointment to the Council’s new bodies and to integrate a gender perspective in the renewal and establishment of Special Procedures in the coming months.
The first session of the Universal Periodic Review next April will mark an important milestone for the Council. It will be the first step in what we hope will be a participatory and inclusive process. We encourage all stakeholders to engage in it with honesty and commitment. We are confident that, if there is genuine support for the UPR process and it is given an opportunity to prove its value, the result can be concrete and constructive improvements in the promotion and protection of human rights in every State.
New Zealand was active in the establishment of the Human Rights Council and remains ambitious for its future. As a demonstration of our commitment to seeing the Council evolve into a strong, focused and effective body, New Zealand has announced its intention to stand for election to the Council in 2009.
As I made clear in the Plenary this morning, our strong preference would have been to have had the HRC report first presented to Plenary; the approach taken last year of bringing the report to Plenary and then to the Third Committee would have served us well again this year. While it is for each General Assembly to decide on the allocation of items, we have registered, and do so again, that the allocation of Item 65 at the 63rd session must be carefully considered and a positive decision must be taken. Given the evolving role and importance of the Council, it will be appropriate to have the report considered first in Plenary and, if the substance of the report requires this, also in the Third Committee.
In closing, may I thank the previous President of the Human Rights Council, Ambassador de Alba for his hard work in the first year of the Council’s life, its crucial establishment phase, and wish Ambassador Costea success in his leadership of the Council over the coming year.
Thank you Mr Chairman.
