Victor Dolidze delivered a statement at the second HRC Intersessional meeting
3.12.2019 Geneva – Ambassador Victor Dolidze delivered a statement at the Second HRC Intersessional meeting for dialogue and cooperation on human rights and the 2030 Agenda: "Decade of Action and Delivery of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda”.
“Thank you Mr. President,
The First Intersessional meeting on “Empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality” proved to be a valuable opportunity to demonstrate synergies that contribute to better human rights and Sustainable Development Goals implementation. I hope that during the second meeting we will further dive into the understanding of the coherence between the development and human rights agendas.
As the former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said: “we will not enjoy development without security, or security without development. But I also stress that we will not enjoy either without universal respect for human rights”. Development and human rights are closely interrelated.
The comprehensive 2030 Agenda is based upon human rights and we believe that implementation of its Sustainable Development Goals is only possible through a human-rights approached.
Mr. President,
Georgia is committed to promotion, protection and fulfilment of all human rights. The Government is aligning its national policies with the SDGs that are realized through horizontal integration of the SDG indicators with the National Human Rights Strategy.
A dedicated SDG Council, set up at the Administration of Government, is responsible for coordinating and monitoring progress of Georgia on the implementation 2030 Agenda. The Council consists of representatives of the government, international organizations and NGOs. Four thematic working groups established within the Council on Social Inclusion, Economic Development, Rule of Law and Human Rights, Sustainable Energy and Environment Protection are co-chaired by NGOs.
Mr. President,
Georgia attaches particular importance to ensuring gender equality and women’s full enjoyment of their human rights. To this end, considerable work has been carried out at the national level to ensure that gender equality and women’s empowerment policies reflect commitments made in the nationalized SDGs and their targets.
Herewith, I would like to underline the centrality of the rule of law and open governance for protection of human rights. In this regard, let me stress a pivotal importance of SDG 16 to the overall Sustainable Development Agenda. We believe that the SDG 16 is a key enabler for the achievement of the other goals.
Georgia has been active in sharing our success stories and lessons learned in the implementation of the targets related to the SDG 16 with particular focus on targets 16.5 and 16.6 as we believe, that corruption-free, effective, accountable and transparent institutions are the key drivers of sustainable development and crucial pillars in the realization of the 2030 Agenda.
Mr. President,
Climate change poses tremendous threat to the enjoyment of fundamental human rights such as the right to life, health, adequate food and housing. Georgia has committed to make its own contribution to international efforts in combating climate change and its outcomes. We continue updating our Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and elaborating Climate Action Plan for 2021-2030, that ensures the Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) by 2030 will stay by 40% below the level recorded in 1990. In our efforts, we also aim to identify various mitigation measures that contribute to the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In conclusion, let me once again emphasize the interlinkages and complementarity between the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable development and human rights and stress that coherence between these two agendas can greatly benefit governments’ efforts of their successful implementation.
I thank you.” – Victor Dolidze
