H.E. Ms. Nazhat Shameem Khan, President of the Human Rights Council

29 September 2021

Excellencies,
Dear colleagues,

Bula Vinaka and good day.

It is my great pleasure to speak to you all today.

At the outset, allow me to extend my thanks to UNESCO’s Geneva Liaison Office for organising this panel discussion on the importance of strengthening the right to access to information through the Universal Periodic Review process against the backdrop of International Day for Universal Access to Information. It is my great hope that this panel will serve as an opportunity to both emphasise how the Universal Periodic Review process can be used to strengthen access to information and spur action to ensure that all stakeholders enjoy better access to information in this context.

As President of the Human Rights Council, I have observed first-hand that the Universal Periodic Review, which is commonly known as the “UPR”, is a valuable mechanism to facilitate the promotion and protection of all human rights around the world. The UPR is a unique peer review process through which the human rights record of each of the 193 Member States of the United Nations  is reviewed and recommendations are provided to the State under review on how to strengthen the promotion and protection of human rights. This process provides an invaluable opportunity for States with different cultural backgrounds and legal systems to share diverse insights in to how to best improve human rights in every UN Member State. In this way, States help one another see their human rights blind spots and encourage steps be taken to address them.

Of course, for the UPR to be an effective mechanism, it is essential that all stakeholders – States, civil society organisations and international organisations – have access to information, and especially information on the human rights success stories and challenges each State faces. Indeed, for States to make informed, perceptive recommendations to one another, stakeholders need to be made aware of and analyse human rights-related information from all States.

In this connection, I am pleased to recall that the United Nations has already taken steps recognising the importance of access to information to the enjoyment of human rights. For example, Sustainable Development Goal target 16.10 calls for States to “ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements” in order to best achieve SDG 16’s aim to “promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”.

In addition, I would like to highlight that just last year, during its 44th session in July 2020, the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution entitled “Freedom of Opinion and Expression” recognising that “obstacles to access to information can undermine the enjoyment of civil and political rights, as well as economic, social and cultural rights” and which, just as importantly, recognises “that the free flow of information is an important component access to information, which is essential for advancing the promotion and protection of human rights, including of women’s and girls’ full enjoyment of human rights and to achieving gender equality”.

The resolution also mandated that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights “prepare a report on good practices for establishing national normative frameworks that foster access to information held by public entities”. I encourage you all to consult this report, which is scheduled for publication at the 49th session of the Human Rights Council in March 2022, to enhance your efforts to provide national normative frameworks that facilitate access to information.

Excellences,
Dear colleagues,

Before I conclude, allow me to take this opportunity to once again emphasise the critical importance of access to information to the effectiveness of the Universal Periodic Review and, indeed, to the promotion and protection of human rights at large. In this spirit, I offer all my best wishes for a fruitful discussion.

Vinaka vakalevu and I thank you.