Human Rights Council 36th Session (11-29 September 2017)

Annual discussion on the integration of a gender perspective throughout the work of the Human Rights Council and that of its mechanism

Statement of Ireland

15 September 2017

Ireland aligns with the statement of the European Union

Mr President,

Ireland welcomes today’s discussion on gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.

There is clear complementarity between the work of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism and the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development which monitors SDG implementation. This complementarity can be positive and help deliver human right objectives worldwide including on gender equality and women’s empowerment. The SDGs are grounded in human rights treaties and principles and it is clear that without progress on human rights, achievement of the targets set in the Sustainable Development Goals will not be possible.

The UPR cycles thus far were extremely successful in progressing the realisation of all human rights throughout the world. It is equally important that the same level of success is seen in the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development and its reviews of States implementation of the SDGs. The vast amount of learning and recommendations that have come from the UPR mechanism can be of great assistance to the High Level Political Forum in relation to their work across all of the SDGs, and in particular on Goal 5 – Gender Equality.

We would like to ask the distinguished panellists their views on the lessons learned from the first and second UPR cycles, which could be beneficial to the review of SDG implementation from a gender perspective, and how we could engage more effectively with civil society to ensure gender responsive strategies to SDG implementation.

Thank you.