Ministry Statements & Speeches:
Thank you Chair.
New Zealand is proud to be a member of the Inter-Regional Taskforce on the moratorium of the use of the death penalty.
We would like to thank Australia and Costa Rica for their excellent co-facilitation of this important resolution. The co-facilitators listened to views in the room, including the various positions on the OP1 amendment.
My delegation wants to recognise the co-facilitators for their leadership in genuinely working towards language that could accommodate the breadth of views in the room.
New Zealand was encouraged by the conversations on the issue of sovereign rights, in particular, that we were starting to see ways where we could come closer together as member states, and potentially reach consensus.
That is why we are disappointed that the new language we were working towards is not reflected in the resolution today, and we regret that the amendment to OP1 has been tabled.
It is our hope in the 79th session that we will be able to build on the constructive progress from the negotiations this year.
We would like to also thank all delegations for their engagement in the resolution this year. New Zealand looks forward to working together to achieve ongoing progress on an issue that is important to all of us.
Thank you.