PH Attends 39th Session of the Human Rights Council  

GENEVA 04 October 2018 – The Philippines highlighted the importance it gives to upholding human rights in a reception held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on 20 September 2018.

The Philippine Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, joined by the Missions of Bahrain, Bangladesh, Fiji and India—the five candidates from the Asia Pacific Group campaigning for a seat at the Human Rights Council for the term 2019-2021—hosted a joint reception at the UN Headquarters in Europe, the Palais des Nations.

The cocktail reception was well-attended by majority of delegations attending the 39th Session of the Human Rights Council as well as officials from the Missions to the UN in Geneva. The brief program afforded the Permanent Missions of each of the candidates the opportunity to address the guests about their candidatures.

All five representatives spoke of the importance of human rights in their national contexts, their commitment to rights-based principles and policies, and shared their views on why their membership in the council would advance the cause of human rights throughout the world. 

Philippine Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Ambassador Evan P. Garcia shared the message of the Philippines, having had the distinct privilege of being among the original members when the council was established in 2006, and “the high importance the Philippines places upon the issue of human rights, being a core issue of the United Nations and a right that is fundamental to all. Hence, our strong desire to continue to participate and further contribute to the work of the HRC.”

“The Philippines is a party to eight of the nine core human rights instruments and views the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a landmark document of equal importance to the UN Charter in terms of significance and impact. The respect for human rights is a core value and principle of the Philippines and we will continue to abide by our commitments and champion human rights as we strive to serve in the council for the term 2019-2021,” said Ambassador Garcia.

“Among the issues we give importance to include the relationship of human rights to the right to development, business, children, climate change, disability, discrimination, education, the environment, indigenous peoples, migration, racism, the rule of law, and women among others. One need only look at our co-sponsorship and support for certain resolutions, panels, and other issues undertaken by the Council to see our clear commitment to the promotion of human rights,” Ambassador Garcia added.

The terms of five members of the Asia Pacific Group will end in December 2018. Bahrain, Bangladesh, Fiji and India are vying to fill the seats to be vacated by Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Republic of Korea and the United Arab Emirates, while the Philippines is running for another term on the Council.

While the Human Rights Council sits in Geneva, the elections will be held during the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly in New York. END

The Asia-Pacific Group candidates for membership to the Human Rights Council for the term 2019-2021 composed of (from left) Philippine Permanent Representative Evan P. Garcia, Fiji Permanent Representative Nazhat Shameem Khan, Bangladesh Permanent Representative M Shameem Ahsan, Bahrain Mission Deputy Permanent Representative Counselor Husain Maklooq, and India Permanent Representative Rajiv Kumar Chander. (Geneva PM photo)

For more information, visit www.genevapm.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHinGenevaUN/.