APA-Pretoria (South Africa) South Africa’s International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor is participating in the High-Level Segment of the 55th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC 55) that kicked off in Geneva on Monday.
Pandor is Monday expected to deliver a national statement, outlining South Africa’s human rights priority issues for the year 2024.
“Minister Pandor is also scheduled to speak at the High-Level Panel on Human Rights Mainstreaming under the theme, “Harnessing Multilateral Efforts to Embed, Amplify and Realise the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, with a Focus on Full and Effective Participation and Inclusion in Society,” ministry spokesperson Clayson Monyela said.
The discussion would focus on challenges to and progress made in the implementation of the United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy (UNDIS), and would set out the next steps for strengthened implementation of the UNDIS and the promotion of the human rights of persons with disabilities in the UN Human Rights Council and the General Assembly.
Pandor is due to deliver a statement at the High-Level Segment of the Conference on Disarmament on Tuesday.
The conference on Disarmament is the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community on nuclear disarmament.
The minister would use her visit to the Swiss city to have bilateral meetings with some of her counterparts, according to Monyela.
South Africa was in 2022 elected to be one of the 46 members of the UN Human Rights Council. The country’s term runs until December 2025.
It was elected at the same time as Algeria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Morocco, Romania and Vietnam on three-year terms starting January 2023.
Other members of the council are Albania, Argentina, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cameroon, China, Côte d’Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Finland, France, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malaysia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Paraguay, Qatar, Somalia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, and United States.
JN/APA