18 February 2015

Mr. Chairperson, Ambassador Al-Henzab,
Excellencies,
Distinguished panellists,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a pleasure for me to join you all at this opening session of the 2015 Social Forum.

First, I would like to congratulate my distinguished colleague, Ambassador Al-Henzab on his appointment as the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the 2015 Social Forum of the Human Rights Council. I am confident that under your able stewardship, this meeting will be a success.

On my part, let me assure you of my support as President of the Human Rights Council to the Social Forum. In its mandate the Forum aims to address “issues linked with the national and international environment needed for the promotion of the enjoyment of all human rights by all”. In a globalizing, interdependent world currently faced with multiple crises, the links between human rights and the surrounding local and global environment are increasingly visible. Hence the meaningful consideration of the broad themes addressed at the Social Forum such as the adverse effects of climate change on human rights and the eradication of poverty, are critical to the promotion and protection of human rights. Nonetheless, in order to strengthen the participants’ sense of ownership, it would be important for all to engage actively in finding new themes and topics for discussions.

As one core objective for my tenure is to increase the visibility of the Human Rights Council and the great work that we, the Council and its many mechanisms, are actually doing, the Social Forum with its unique composition is well placed to serve this purpose. The Forum provides a space for discussion across a wide spectrum of issues and with relevant stakeholders. It allows for constructive engagement not only amongst Member States and the United Nations human rights machinery but also with civil society, including grass-roots organizations, people living in poverty, and women, especially from developing countries.

This formula for broad participation of all stakeholders not only allows for creative solutions to complex human rights challenges but also connects the work of the Council to human rights actors on the ground – this is essential to fulfil the Council’s mandate.

The theme of the 2015 Social Forum - access to medicines – crosses many divides, among them, human rights and development, science, technology and innovation; trade and investment, and intellectual property. We should focus on the human rights dimension.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Two billion people across the world have no access to essential medicines. Their predicament is not because the necessary medicines do not exist on a global stage, but because they do not have access – geographically or socially - to the medicines they require. We must examine the barriers and challenges that confront us, and propose means for overcoming them.

Strengthened health systems and universal health coverage, as well as access to health services, and that services and medicines are safe, efficacious and of quality are all intrinsically interlinked. Like all economic, social and cultural rights, the right to health requires progressive realization, through the best use of available resources. While the realization of economic and social rights and the right to development are first and foremost the responsibility of States vis-à-vis their citizens, there is the need for international cooperation to support the realization of all human rights by all.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
We meet here today at the beginning of a critical year. Within its timespan, we will witness the adoption of the Post-2015 agenda, setting sustainable development goals for all. We will see the crafting of a new agreement on climate change. While these issues are often discussed in isolation, climate change is closely interrelated with human rights, in particular the right to life, the right to food, the right to adequate housing and so many other basic human rights. Therefore, it is our obligation to shed more light on the interdependence between those topics.

This year we also look forward to a new global scheme for Financing for Development. An enabling environment for development as well as for human rights rests upon the application of the basic principles of accountability, equality, non-discrimination, participation, empowerment and transparency, and the rule of law.

Access to medicines is also linked with the broader context of global and national developments and public policies at all levels. The Ebola Virus Disease that confronts West African countries and also all of us as an international community aptly illustrates these interconnections. The linkages call for holistic responses. Our solutions must be based on the universal and indivisible human rights of all people born equal in dignity and in rights.

The Sustainable Development Goals as currently formulated, seek to reduce maternal and infant mortality, end epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases, reduce premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and wellbeing, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all.

In traversing traditional divides and building bridges across silos, we must recall that respect for human rights is the ultimate foundation upon which rests the legitimacy of the actions of our Governments, our international institutions, our corporations and business enterprises, our organs of civil society, and ourselves. Access to medicines is an important component for the international community.

As for my priorities for my term as President of the Human Rights Council, one of them focusing on increasing the efficiency of the Council and its mechanisms, I have argued many times that, before we rush to create new initiatives and mechanisms, existing ones need to be utilized to the fullest. The Social Forum, in this respect, as a subsidiary mechanism of the Human Rights Council, should be used to its full potential and secure good participation by all stakeholders (in particular Member States!).

I am conscious that there is a lack of consensus surrounding the issues discussed. I am, however, confident that in the able hands of your chairperson you will be able to have substantive deliberations to further support social cohesion and strengthen the rights of all.

I wish you well in your endeavour and have asked my team to follow your work with utmost attention, as I am out of town. The Council looks forward to receiving your report at its June session.

I wish you a successful Social Forum.

Thank you.