Closing Remarks of HRC President at event entitled «The UN and civil society – 70 years working together: how do we make a difference from Geneva »

Monday, 22 June 2015 - 10:00 to 17:00
Palais des Nations, Geneva – Room XI

Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with honour that I say some closing remarks today at the event «The UN and civil society – 70 years working together: how do we make a difference from Geneva ». While I could not attend myself the event throughout the day, I heard that you had fruitful discussions on the opportunities and challenges in the many different areas of the UNs work. I am very much looking forward to the report of the event. 

As Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon stated, the 70th anniversary of the UN is an opportunity to reflect, to look back and to learn for the future. I myself delved into this exercise, taking a look back to 1945, when the world lay in ashes due to the 2nd World War, which Nazi Germany had brought upon us.  50 representatives of countries gathered in San Francisco and agreed on the formation of the United Nations to create a better world.

The preamble paragraph of the UN Charter begins with «We the Peoples of the United Nations». The UN was not created for States, it was created for everyone. Human rights are about human beings. Development is about human beings. Security is about human beings.

Looking to today and with this sentiment in mind, I am proud to currently be President of the Human Rights Council; because this core belief is honoured and preserved, as reflected in the universality of participation enshrined in the Council’s founding documents. Resolution 60/251 presents in this regard a milestone. And almost ten years later, I personally cannot imagine a credible, functional and effective Human Rights Council without the participation of civil society actors. The issues that the Human Rights Council discusses and is responsible for matters hugely to citizens and peoples across the world. They touch hearts and minds very deeply. They underpin the quality of peoples’ lives. It is, therefore, both natural and necessary that States and civil society should work together to tackle these issues – for instance and to name a few, combatting violence against women, eliminating all forms of racism, safeguarding the rights of the child and ensuring the right to adequate housing for all.

Of course, the participation of civil society presents us with new challenges. Having more stakeholders present prolongs our dialogues; having more views present makes our negotiations tougher, especially as NGOs do not represent elected governments but often only factions of societies, dealing with specific issues. There are often times when we have differing views on the best way to make progress. For these issues it is even more important that we work together, because through the participation of civil society, we are more relevant, more effective and more real. 

Our principles are constantly challenged; a mirror of our actions is constantly being held in front of us; and we are asked to take responsibility, for us and for others.

NGOs have an enormous geographical reach, thereby often bridging the gap between the international, regional and national levels. NGOs are passionate. They understand local issues and people trust them to help implement our commitments. They can help translate our work into action, by triggering change, and by reminding us to strive for accountability. Civil society actors, shape public policy, they provide vast expertise, offer services, and operate in all areas of public life. They are thus potentially the most powerful ally we have to deliver results in human rights improvement on the ground; and for this, quality engagement is of the essence.

At the same time, also NGOs have a responsibility to respect the rules governing our bodies. Our partnership needs to be built on openness, trust and goodwill on both sides. There are definitely times when we could do better. But we are paying attention to criticism and we are constantly striving to improve with a view to being more effective and efficient.

Without civil society participation, the United Nations cannot fulfil its tasks set by the UN Charter of saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war, of establishing conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, of promoting social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom and of reaffirming faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small.

It is therefore saddening and alarming that there are many cases of intimidation and reprisals happening against civil society that are brought to my attention. Cooperation with the UN, in particular with its human rights mechanisms, must be safe. We all have a responsibility to maintain a safe civil society space and we need to speak up against those that threaten this space, in particular at the United Nations. I therefore strongly deplore means to restrict freedom of expression and assembly with a view to restrict NGOs. I also strongly deplore means to curb the financing of NGOs, to label them terrorist organizations or to introduce such high legal hurdles that NGOs cannot work.

Geneva has many important lessons concerning civil society participation, including NHRI participation that it can share with other parts of the United Nations, including with the UN Headquarters at New York, and I am very grateful to DG Moeller for actively promoting safe civil society participation. Looking ahead, I would like to see this become a commonplace feature across all UN bodies and across the work of the UN as a whole. This will require us to embed the spirit of the UN Charter more systematically within the UN’s work to reflect the importance we place on civil society engagement. Engagement which is both broad and deep, going well beyond the usual suspects.

Today’s event served to remind us that civil society is an essential part of all of the UN’s work for peace, sustainable security, human rights and for sustainable development. Civil society is not just a ‘nice–to-have’, but a ‘must-have’. Kofi Annan said it clearly: « A strong civil society promotes responsible citizenship and makes democratic forms of government work. A weak civil society supports authoritarian rule, which keeps society weak ».

With this, I hope that the next decades of the United Nations are marked by even more civil society participation, by more cooperation with those, for whom the UN was created – for us all.