Human Rights Day 2022 - UNRC Talking Points

Dobar dan, Speaker of the House Mr Orlic, Madame la Premiere Ministre Ana Brnabic, Minister for Human & Minority Rights Mr Zigmanov, Ambassador Braathu, distinguished guests.

I am happy and honoured to be with you today, in this beautiful and important state building. Thank you for inviting me to speak on behalf of the UN in Serbia.

This is a good opportunity to reflect on what we have done together, and what remains ahead of us. I would like to share 4 points with you:

1. First, today we remember when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris in 1948. This was a great moment of hope after WW2, after the genocide. With the end of the war, and the creation of the United Nations, the international community vowed to never again allow such atrocities happen again. World leaders decided to complement the UN Charter with a road map to guarantee the rights of every individual everywhere. The UDHR has been translated into over 500 languages and is widely recognized as having inspired, and paved the way for, the adoption of more than 70 human rights treaties. This is the declaration (show the mini book). It is smaller than your cell phone and can fit in your pocket. It should be on the desk of every child in every school. It remains my inspiration when in doubt. It was prepared by a team of senior diplomats from the US, the then USSR, China, France, Canada, the UK and Chile. We can only fight for such cooperation to become the norm again on the international scene.

2. Today in Serbia our discussion is dedicated to the Leave No One Behind principle. More than ever, we should remember what is at the core of the UDHR: the principle that all people are equal, and all people entitled without discrimination to equal protection of the law. Our common agenda, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development also places people, and equality, at the heart of the global effort to eradicate poverty & exclusion, secure human rights and protect the planet.

So, I am very happy that in 2022, the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights together with the United Nations, academia and civil society developed the tool for the introduction of the ‘Leave No One Behind’ principle into legislative and strategic acts of the Republic of Serbia. What does this mean? It means shaping solutions specifically targeting the more vulnerable or marginalised segments of society. This tool will be used for all future law and policy development processes – for example, this tool should be used in all strategic plans related to the green transition, strategies for employment, disabilities, housing. We hope that this tool will bring genuine changes, including in new human rights challenges such as Climate Change.

3. This takes me to my third point: the need for all of us to work consistently on i) the legislative and policy framework, ii) the implementation of that framework, iii) the dissemination of knowledge across institutions and society, and iv) people’s behaviours and beliefs.

Serbia’s legal framework is mostly harmonized with international human rights standards, and Serbia has already committed to most protocols, treaties and reporting mechanisms. In 2022 several important policy documents were adopted, such as the new Strategy & Action Plan for Prevention and Protection from Discrimination, the revised Strategy for the Social Inclusion of Roma people, the Strategy for creating a stimulating environment for the development of civil society, etc. Several important laws and policies are still pending, such as the Law on Same-Sex Unions and the Law on Gender Identity. Now is the time to complete this work, to strengthen transparency, to build capacities and to dedicate resources and commitments to the implementation at all levels of society. Otherwise, trust in institutions will further reduce.

4. My fourth point is on the importance for all of us, in particular all political leaders, community leaders, religious leaders to nurture a culture of dialog, of respect and ethics, of building trust. Serbian society is polarised enough, and we don’t need more intolerance, more hate and more divisive speech; we don’t need glorification of convicted war criminals; we should not use sensitive human rights topics to further divide society – such as what happened during Euro Pride, against the LGBTI community; we should not compromise freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and the safety of civic space. Instead, we should work harder on building common solutions even when we have diverging political opinions. We should strengthen social cohesion, trust and reconciliation, and celebrate diversity as the foundations for prosperity and a sustainable common future.

To conclude, I share with you the 4 core values that the UN Secretary general expect all UN staff to embody: Inclusion (meaningful participation of all interested parties on an equal basis), Integrity (respect your partner(s) even when we disagree), Humility (increasingly important in a society obsessed with self-promotion) and Humanity (empathy & caring).

Addressing inequalities, eliminating discrimination and advancing human rights is at the center of everything the UN does to build a more sustainable, just, inclusive and peaceful world. We look forward to work with all partners in 2023, in the spirit of dignity, freedom and justice for all!

Hvala!