Geneva, 13 June 2016

Deputy Secretary-General,
Distinguished President,
Excellencies, Colleagues and Friends,
It is a privilege to speak to such a distinguished panel and audience.

Alongside the Deputy Secretary General – whose contributions to the birth of this institution were crucial – and nine distinguished former Presidents, all 193 Member States will be represented at this session.

All small island developing States and least developed countries, including 16 countries that do not have missions in Geneva, have sent representatives – thanks in part to support from the Trust Fund for Small Island States and Least Developed Countries and to those Member states that contributed funds to make this possible.

I take this as a mark of the depth and breadth of influence that this Council has developed, and as acknowledgement of the essential role that is played by human rights in every one of your nations.

Human rights build societies in which people are able to make choices, develop opportunities, peacefully resolve disputes and resist threats with confidence and unity. Every State represented here has committed to protecting those rights, in the knowledge that governments exist to serve the people – not the other way round.

The Human Rights Council has set up unprecedented processes for scrutiny of human rights issues and situations. It has initiated vital investigations into new crises and chronic violations, and formulated crucial recommendations. Its embrace of civil society is unmatched by any forum in the UN system, and this mobilisation of expertise, awareness-raising and reporting contributes greatly to the Council’s relevance.

In today's world of turmoil, we see signals of faltering commitment by States to fundamental human rights norms. As the world’s most authoritative forum on human rights, it is vital that the Council intensify its focus on what matters: improving implementation of human rights commitments on the ground. International human rights institutions can be proud of the impact we are having, but all of us need to ensure that our work becomes much more consequential.

Looking ahead at the next 10 years, I hope that all actors will be addressing much more forcefully the root causes of human rights violations – including by leveraging development assistance, and by improving systematic follow-up of recommendations. Members of the Council need to ensure that they consistently promote all human rights within their own countries. They can also ensure that their development assistance policies work to encourage other States to implement the recommendations of the human rights mechanisms, and to uphold human rights. Particularly when good governance and rule of law are at issue, this can contribute very significantly to the success of the 2030 Agenda – and can constitute a vital force for prevention. The Council could take a leadership role in this drive for much more systematic follow-up of recommendations. On this point, my Office will be publishing good practises on coordinated national follow up to human rights recommendations which I hope will inspire all Member States.

We also need to work together to strengthen the impact of this Council’s work at country level, and to enhance UN support for stronger national human rights systems, in order to enable greater freedoms, rights and dignity of people across the world.