Slovenia’s activities at the 76th session of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly

  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Meeting of the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs Committee of the UN General Assembly, also referred to as the Third Committee, has concluded in New York. The Committee, which opened its meeting on 30 September, adopted more than 60 resolutions. In addition to the Council Presidency, Slovenia is focusing on its priorities in its work within the Third Committee, particularly on the rights of women, the rights of older persons, the rights of the child, human rights and the environment, the human rights situation around the world and issues concerning civil society but is also actively involved in other topics.

At the session, which takes place every autumn, the Third Committee addressed a variety of human rights issues mainly through a general debate and interactive dialogues with special rapporteurs, independent experts, chairpersons of the contracting authorities and the UN representatives.

The General Assembly once again took note of the annual report by the President of the UN Human Rights Council. As part of the activities within the Third Committee, Slovenia participated in the general debate on social development. The Slovenian Youth Delegate participated again this year. In her address, she focused on the challenges young people are facing today, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She underlined the importance of implementing the Sustainable Development Goals for young people and for future generations in particular. 

In further appearances, Slovenia participated in interactive dialogues with the special representative on violence against children, independent expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, special rapporteur on violence against women, special rapporteur on human rights defenders, special rapporteur on human rights and the environment, and special rapporteur on water and sanitation. In an interactive dialogue with the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Slovenia made a statement on behalf of the Group of Friends of Older Persons in New York, drawing attention to the negative impact of COVID-19 on the rights of older persons.

Slovenia actively participated in the negotiations on the resolution to further implement the conclusions of the Second World Assembly on Ageing, in the drafting processes and in the coordination of EU member states regarding the resolutions that Slovenia submitted as the holder of the Presidency and presented on behalf of the EU: on the rights of the child, on freedom of religion and belief, on the human rights situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and on the human rights situation in Myanmar.

In addition to the above-mentioned resolutions, the Committee adopted, inter alia, resolutions on the prevention of various forms of violence against women and girls, the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, combating disinformation, human rights defenders, national institutions of human rights, fight against trafficking in people, people with disabilities, social development, human rights and terrorism. Slovenia also supported resolutions addressing the human rights situation in Sevastopol in Crimea, Syria and Iran. When expressing the positions and adopting resolutions of the Third Committee, Slovenia read statements on behalf of the EU under the Presidency.

Na vrh strani...