All over the world, human rights are under huge pressure – defending them is one of our most pressing challenges today. We are doing our utmost to protect human rights out of respect and responsibility for the people in the Sudan, Iran and all those worldwide whose rights are infringed every day. Protecting human rights is also in our own best interest. When freedom, gender equality and the rule of law are respected, this makes our societies freer, more stable and safer.

The Human Rights Council is the central forum for calling out human rights violations and standing up resolutely against them. Tomorrow will mark the fourth anniversary of Russia’s illegal war of aggression in Ukraine, with all of its human rights violations. The Human Rights Council must continue to monitor the situation there closely. We also want to extend the mandate for observing the human rights situation in Belarus. With the help of the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on the human rights situation in Syria, we want to continue providing the country with constructive guidance during its transition process. We will also discuss how we can make the UN human rights system more efficient. Only in this way will the United Nations remain an effective defender of human rights, even with ever lower funding available to it.

In an increasingly multipolar world, we stand up resolutely against any attempt to relativise the universality of human rights. It is vital that we work alongside like-minded partners to defend the rules-based international order, strengthen human rights institutions and forge new alliances for the future of human rights. Germany remains a reliable and constructive voice in the Human Rights Council.