Mr. President,
The EU would like to thank the High Commissioner for her update on the impact of the global economic and financial crisis on the universal realization and effective enjoyment of human rights.One of the objectives of the special session was to give input to the UN Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development. The EU is committed to contribute to the expedient implementation of the conference’s decisions in the relevant bodies.
The European Union thinks it is important that the Human Rights Council continues to deal with the human rights component of the crisis. The Council should be vigilant that states’ responses to the crisis do not erode human rights protection. In doing so, the Council should pay as much attention to the protection of economic, social and cultural rights as of civil and political rights.
The international community should remain committed to its goals of fighting poverty, promoting economic development and advancing the implementation of the MDGs worldwide. In this respect the EU reaffirms its own commitments to developing countries.
Governments should also continue to pay special attention to the way the crisis may affect the rights of vulnerable and marginalized groups such as women, children, persons belonging to minority groups or migrants. Those may be the first ones to bear the brunt of rising poverty or unemployment.
The European Union would like to thank the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food for his report. We have read the analysis of large-scale land acquisitions. The EU would be interested in knowing more about how a human rights perspective can be integrated in these land acquisitions, as well as how the compliance of human rights and particularly the right to food can be ensured and food security enhanced.
The Special Rapporteur has at earlier occasions also underlined that a sustainable solution of the food crisis must be based on a human rights approach. The EU would appreciate an update of recent developments and progresses made with regard to the integration of a human rights perspective into international and national programmes, for instance those based on FAO guidelines, regarding food security.
In the report, the Special Rapporteur proposes to reform the Committee on World Food Security into something far more ambitious. The EU would be interested in hearing how these proposals link up to ongoing efforts to reform this Committee. We look forward to continuing the dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on these issues during future annual interactive dialogues.