Luanda — Angola has made significant progress in promoting gender equality since the last evaluation of the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action, the secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Esmeralda Mendoça, confirmed Monday in Geneva, Switzerland.
Speaking at the high-level panel of the 58th session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC), under the slogan "Thirtieth anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action", the diplomat reaffirmed Angola's alignment with the African common position on human rights, which defined the continent's priorities for the next cycle of implementation of these documents.
As an example, she said that, for the first time, Angola has women occupying public positions of great importance, namely the Vice-Presidency of the Republic, Speaker of the National Assembly, the Presidency of the Constitutional Court, as well as in the leadership of the Ombuds Office.
The secretary of State said that, despite the progress made, Angola reiterates its commitment to the Beijing Declaration and Programme of Action and welcomes the crucial role of UN Women in defining and integrating gender in the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda.
The opening session took place on Monday and was attended by more than 100 representatives of the UN Member States, in the presence of senior dignitaries, namely Jürg Lauber, President of the Human Rights Council, Philemon Yang, President of the United Nations General Assembly, António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, Volker Türk, High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation, in his capacity as representative of the guest country.
About the UN Human Rights Council
The CDH, created in 2006, is one of the subsidiary bodies of the United Nations. This body is accountable to all UN Member States.
It has a group of 47 elected countries, chosen according to the geographical distribution of the world, who serve three-year terms on the Council and each country can only be elected for two consecutive years.
The Council's main role is to judge cases of conduct that violate basic rights exercised in any territory in the world. The body acts on the goals of International Law, that is, based on regulations established by the United Nations and adhered to by the majority of countries.
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