Mr President,
It is my honour to introduce draft resolution L.2 on behalf of the cross-regional core group consisting of China, Denmark, France, Kenya and Mexico. We are pleased to see that over 110 states have cosponsored the resolution.
Women are the pioneers of human civilization and the promoters of social progress. Nearly thirty years ago, the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, has adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which were considered a landmark document for the global women's cause. Over the past 30 years, the spirit of the Beijing Declaration has been carried forward and the status of women has been significantly raised. At the same time, challenges remain in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration. As United Nations Secretary-General Guterres has said, progress towards equality has been far too slow, we must match rhetoric with resources.
Next year, we will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration. The core group proposes draft resolution L2, to revitalise the spirit of the Beijing Declaration and to further build consensus and unite our efforts towards a brighter future for the global women's cause. The draft resolution proposes to convene a high-level panel discussion to commemorate the 30th anniversary at the 58th session of the Council, invites the President of the Council to consider it the annual high-level panel discussion on human rights mainstreaming next year, and requests the High Commissioner for Human Rights to promote participation of all parties to the panel discussion, prepare summary report to be submitted to the 60th session of the Council and the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The core group held informal consultations, bilateral discussions with openness and transparency, and maintained close contact with OHCHR, UN Women and others. We thank the core group, co-sponsors and all parties for their valuable contributions to the draft resolution. The draft resolution has gained wide support, which reflects our shared aspiration for accelerating achievement of gender equality and advancing cooperation in addressing challenges. This is crucial to achieving the bright future envisaged in the Beijing Declaration. We hope that the Human Rights Council will adopt draft resolution L.2 by consensus.
Thank you, Mr President.