Mr President,
Sweden fully aligns itself with the statement made by Portugal on behalf of the European Union.
Sweden greatly appreciates the broad span of HR issues that the Independent Expert Mme Abaka has addressed in her report on Liberia.
This work is an excellent example of how country-specific special procedures are useful, both in assessing a situation and in providing recommendations on measures for improvement.
Sweden hopes that the Expert can continue to intensify her work, so as to render it as specific and results-oriented as possible.
Having been involved with Liberia myself for quite some time, as Special Representative of the EU presidency, it is easy to testify both the progress that has been made since the violent war that ended four years ago, but also to the need to intensify efforts in the field of human rights.
My delegation would like to take this opportunity to raise a couple of questions related to the mandate of Mme Akaba:
• The report wisely emphasises the importance of successful judicial reform for ensuring respect for human rights on an overall level. I wonder, how one can use your mandate to assess progress in this field, to measure to what extent the recommendations are implemented?
• The report mentions the efforts made by the government to ensure the right to education of girls, but it is also clear that that right is still far from being universally realised. These are traditional attitudes, and there is also a lack of resources – which of these, or any other challenges are most important? And could you perhaps give us an idea of how your mandate can be used to address these issues?
Thank you Mr. Kothari for helping us with the review of Mme Abaka’s mandate and thank you, Mr President.