Geneva, 1 March 2023 (TDI): Kirsti Kauppi, Permanent Representative of Finland at the United Nations (UN), issued a joint statement on the behalf of Nordic-Baltic countries at a High-Level meeting on right to development.
Finland’s representative, while addressing the council, said her statement is on behalf of Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, and Finland.
She said that last year, on the thirty-fifth anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Right to Development, all countries agreed to uphold the value of the right to development.
Right to development has its roots in universality, indivisibility, interrelation, and interdependence.
It is an esteemed notion that maintains that it is a fundamental human right to be entitled to participate and have the advantage of economic, social, political, and cultural development.
The objective of the right to development is the full realization of freedom by every human being. She lamented that global challenges and the downward trajectory of global trends have not been encouraging at all.
Today, the global community is faced with issues such as the pandemic, exacerbating the climate crisis, and outright military aggression.
All these challenges have impeded the growth and envisaged achievements of Sustainable development goals. The implementation of the World’s 2023 agenda is also far from reality.
The unsavory global trends have ensured extreme poverty and vulnerable living conditions for the majority of the population across the globe.
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The Nordic-Baltic countries have called for a participatory approach by all governments. They urged to ensure human rights for all and asked the authorities to refrain from any action that violates fundamental rights in any form.
The Human Rights Council’s High-level meeting was attended by 32 eminent Dignitaries. Many speakers put forward their statements and emphasized the equal treatment of all global citizens.
A true human rights-based, non-politicization, non-selectivity, and non-confrontation approach should be endorsed to address human rights violations happening anywhere in the world.
The meeting stressed the need for cooperation and constant stimulation of dialogue, at national, regional, and at international levels.
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