Statement at the 46th Session of the UN Human Rights Council
Thank you, Madame President.
CIVICUS welcomes the report on the intersessional meeting for dialogue and cooperation on human rights and the 2030 Agenda. We strongly concur with the report’s consensual conclusions that inclusive collaborative recovery strategies require effective involvement of civil society, and that access to information, transparent communication, solidarity, shared responsibility and mutual accountability are crucial.
While this was true before the COVID 19 Pandemic; it is now even more critical that these laudable aims are met. We welcome continued commitment of States to the realisation of Agenda 2030. However, none of the SDGs can be realized while civic space is restricted and human rights defenders are attacked.
The CIVICUS Monitor continues to track restrictions in civic space across the globe and shows that only 3% of the world’s population is able to effectively speak out, assemble and take action. How can civil society partner with government to implement sustainable development? How can communities engage and implement these goals at a local level when they are being stifled and their very existence threatened? Misuse of increasing anti-terrorism laws, health emergency laws and cyber-security laws continue to stifle the freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly. For us to achieve the sustainable development goals in their entirety, civil society must be supported, promoted and protected. Communities must be empowered and those standing up for their rights must be protected.