Madam Chair, distinguished delegates,
I am speaking on behalf of XXXXXX and my own country X.
First of all, we would like to thank you Mister Chair for your conduct of this session and we would like
to give appreciation to the facilitator for his facilitation. We also would like to thank the other Bureau
members and the secretariat for their support and guidance. We would also like to acknowledge the
presence of civil society groups, for bringing important voices to these discussions.
The Commission has always been the setting where advancement of the rights of women was
crystallized and promoted for consensus by all. Many years ago it succeeded in both drafting a
comprehensive globally binding instrument, the CEDAW Convention, and setting the ground for a
successful Conference and Platform for Action in Beijing.
Our countries have been, and continue to be, strong and vocal advocates for the full and effective
implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, which together with the CEDAW convention and
the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development form a
universal corpus of rights for women and girls worldwide. We back up this commitment through our
policies in our own countries and through our support to sustainable development efforts
abroad. We firmly believe that the full realization of human rights, achieving gender equality and
realizing sexual and reproductive health and rights are essential for addressing population dynamics,
eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable development.
We believe that all people have the right to have control over and decide freely and responsibly on
matters related to their sexuality, free of coercion, discrimination and violence
–
as a matter of social
justice. Sexual and reproductive rights are about bodily integrity, equality and freedom of choice. We
cannot look away from the fact that these rights are violated every day, in all countries. We believe
that anyone, be it women, girls, men or boys, who are denied access to sexual and reproductive
health information, education and services cannot achieve their full potential in public life, in the
changing world of work and society in general.
We remain convinced that the promotion, protection, respect for and fulfilment of human rights for
everyone, including their sexual and reproductive rights, without discrimination on any grounds, is a
critical component of sustainable development and is a requirement for the full achievement of our
internationally agreed development goals.
Thank you.