Statement by Ms. Flavia Pansieri United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights on the International Women’s Day

9 March 2015

Today, in honour of International Women’s Day, we stand in solidarity with all human rights defenders working for gender equality, and with women defenders who fight for the human rights of all.

Twenty years ago, when Governments came together to agree the landmark Beijing Platform for Action, these defenders played a critical role in ensuring that the lived realities of women around the world were recognized and addressed. They insisted that “Women’s Rights are Human Rights” and demanded that violations experienced by women should no longer be dismissed as “private matters” or justified on the basis of misinterpretations of culture, religion or tradition. The result was a visionary agenda, laying out a blueprint for the achievement of equality between women and men.

But the work of women human rights defenders did not start or end with the Beijing Conference. Generations of defenders have fought for equality, often at great personal risk. The OHCHR #reflect2protect campaign is an ongoing initiative by our Office to raise the profile of women human rights defenders. The Highlights video we have just shown demonstrates the specific risks these defenders face, because they are women or because they fight for gender equality. As we celebrate International Women’s Day, I invite you all to join this campaign to support women human rights defenders.

The world has made progress in addressing some aspects of discrimination against women, and today is a day to celebrate that progress. But today is also a day for us to strengthen our resolve to fully eliminate all forms of discrimination against women, and to recognize that each of us has a role to play in making this happen.

We can start by ensuring that the work of the Human Rights Council – through its resolutions, its UPR recommendations, its Commissions of Inquiry and Special Procedures -- upholds the obligations articulated in CEDAW and in the Beijing Platform for Action.

We can also highlight and facilitate the extraordinary work of all defenders fighting for gender equality and all women defending human rights generally. By recognizing the work of these defenders, we can bring them additional credibility and operational space in their countries. And we can also devise ways to ensure that they are able to carry out this work in supportive environments, free from violence, threats and discrimination.

Both within this Council and in our countries, each of us must join the ranks of women human rights defenders, recognizing that achieving gender equality is not only a “women’s concern” but our collective responsibility. We owe it to our daughters – and also to our sons – to build societies that respect and protect the rights of all people regardless of their sex.

As we mark International Women’s Day, I urge all of us to commit to play our part in the struggle to eliminate discrimination and attain full equality between women and men.