Mr. President,

Madame High Commissioner,

Excellencies, 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

At the outset I would like to congratulate you, Ambassador Henczel, on assumption of the post of the President of the Human Rights Council for its 7^th cycle and to wish you and the Council Bureau all the success in fulfilling your comprehensive responsibilities.    

 

Mr. President,

This year we celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, whose importance and today’s relevance can hardly be overestimated. Now it is difficult to imagine the UN human rights machinery without the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, established in the wake of the Vienna Conference just 20 years ago.

And I would like to use this opportunity to express my delegation’s appreciation to Madam Pillay and her dedicated Office for commitment to the promotion and protection of all human rights worldwide persistently shown since then.

 

Mr. President,

Almost at the same time of the Office establishment new states appeared on the post-cold-war map, particularly in Europe and inherited, like my country, outdated legislation especially in the sphere of human rights. Step-by-step enhancement of the said legislation along with strengthening democracy and the rule of law have afterward become major fundamental values of Ukraine’s internal policy and highlights in the foreign policy of my country. 

Given our recent membership experience, Ukraine considers the Human Rights Council as key organ of the UN system of human rights protection, and supports efforts aimed at its further strengthening.

We regard the Council’s Special Procedures as a unique independent mechanism in the human rights protection and an integral part of the UN human rights machinery. I cannot omit mentioning Ukraine’s standing invitation to the Special Procedures which we announced in 2006 and I wish to reconfirm our readiness to fully cooperate.  

Ukraine commends UPR as crucially important HRC tool that in inclusive and cooperative manner helps states to review and improve their national human rights situations. Ukraine passed its 2^nd UPR cycle in October 2012 and now prepares for the final part of the Review – adoption of the Working Group report which will take place at the current session of the Council.

Ukraine firmly adheres to human rights promotion and protection on all levels of cooperation. Our efforts on national level, including recent entry into force of a new Criminal Procedure Code, new legislation on the Bar, as well as the establishment of a National Preventive Mechanism against torture were welcomed at Ukraine-EU Summit in Brussels held on Monday.

Among the current Ukrainian OSCE Chairmanship’s priorities in the field of human rights - youth human rights education focusing on tolerance and non-discrimination, which we deem particularly important for the regional format of cooperation.

Being engaged in collective teamwork on global level, Ukraine plans to further develop the initiative on the role of prevention in the promotion and protection of human rights. The corresponding follow-up draft resolution will be introduced at the 24^th session of the Council.

To conclude, Mr. President, I wish to remind about Ukraine’s candidature to the Human Rights Council for the term of 2018-2020. As a member of the Council my country will exert every effort to ensure that HRC fulfills its mandate responsibly and effectively, thus improving efficiency of the UN machinery of protection and promotion of human rights worldwide.

 

I thank you.

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