“Argentina is here to reaffirm its commitment to build more equal, just, humanitarian, diverse, and inclusive societies,” stated Foreign Minister Felipe Solá during the High-Level Segment of the 46th United Nations Human Rights Council, held virtually from February 22 to 24.
The minister highlighted that Argentina’s multiple actions in the field of human rights are based on our memory, truth, and justice process. He stated that, since democracy was restored, “Argentine society has vigorously promoted an agenda focused on equality and expansion of rights, without exclusions or discrimination. This achievement, that involved the invaluable help of our Mothers and Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, made our promotion and protection for human rights a State policy and an essential part of our identity as members of the international community.”
Regarding the impact of the pandemic, he stressed that our country chose to follow a human rights approach as the basis for our public policy implemented concerning the health crisis. To protect those rights, he added, “Argentina had to make an unprecedented effort in connection with health, social and production investment.” He stated that this happened amidst a complex restructuring process of our foreign debt, in which the goal was to guarantee that the fulfilment of the financial commitments would not undermine the full enjoyment of human rights, especially economic, social, and cultural rights.
The Argentine Foreign Minister stated that, for our country, the achievement of substantive equality between men and women is a priority and a basic tenet of democracy. In that sense, he highlighted the gender approach used in social and labour protection measures in the context of the pandemic, as well as the recent passing of the Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy Law. In addition, he highlighted the need to “put an end to the culture of silence and impunity regarding attacks on women, using all the tools and resources we have as a Government and holding the gender-based violence perpetrators responsible before the courts”.
He also stated that the Human Rights Council must continue to play a fundamental role in fostering dialogue among countries, finding common ground and sharing experiences, “avoiding polarization and stigmatization and instead proposing more international cooperation.” He reaffirmed the great value attached by Argentina to the work done by the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the support for actions performed by her office.
Finally, the minister called on all countries to adhere to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and highlighted Argentina’s candidacy to be a member of the Human Rights Council for the 2022-2024 term, stressing that our country “hopes to continue making substantial contributions to the progressive development of international human rights law”.
