Geneva, 20 January 2014

Dr A.Saheed, President of the Universal Rights Group Mr. C. Mohabeer, Chief of Development and economic and social issues Branch, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sir Nigel Rodley, Chair of the UN Human Rights Committee, and URG Board member

Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a pleasure to be here with you all today to mark the launch of the Universal Rights Group, a new think tank focused on international and regional human rights policy, and the Routledge Handbook on International Human Rights Law, a major new textbook on the discipline.
Both the think tank and the book are of course linked by a common wish to shine a light on the international human rights system and to offer the wider world a window onto the work of the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms – a window designed to strengthen transparency, accountability and effectiveness.

Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen,

This month I began my responsibilities as the 8th President of the Human Rights Council. Undertaking this role is, of course, enormously challenging and I have no doubt that as I take forward my mandate I will be able to rely on the help and support of all of you, and to benefit from your combined experience and wisdom.

However, I also see my Presidency as an important opportunity to drive progress. The Human Rights Council – our Council – is still a young body; it is still in its formative years. If we build the Council, its mechanisms and the wider human rights system carefully and upon strong foundations, then there is no doubt that, because of its focus on individual people and their welfare, it has enormous potential to improve people's lives.

I hope in the year ahead, all of us will give thought to how the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms can work better, how the outputs of the Council can have more meaning for people on the ground who need our help and support, how we can ensure that the recommendations produced by mechanisms such as UPR, Special Procedures and Treaty Bodies will actually be implemented, and how we can help the Council be more accessible for the general public so that people feel a sense of ownership and trust.

None of this will be easy. Yet as the Council looks forward to its 10th anniversary in 2016, as the Office of the High Commissioner enjoys its 20th anniversary, and as the strength and influence of the human rights pillar continues to grow, 2014 offers a wonderful opportunity for all of us to think big, to drive change and to make our work relevant to people everywhere.

Thank you.