.
The United Nations Human Rights Council is currently holding its 46th
Session which commenced on 22nd February, 2021 and runs up to 23rd
March, 2021.
This year’s session is a hybrid, whereby a combination of
both virtual and physical meetings are conducted due to COVID-19
restrictions.
Malawi delegation at the session is led by Honorable Titus
Mvalo, Minister of Justice, who also attended the High-Level segment,
represented at a high political level.
It is against this background that the
Ministry of Justice seeks to clarify and highlight the reasons why
Honorable Titus Mvalo travelled to Geneva, Switzerland, to attend this
Session.
Malawi began her three-year tenure as a member of the Human Rights
Council in January, 2021 and it will end in 2023.
The 46th Session of the
Human Council is therefore Malawi’s first meeting as she began her
tenure.
As a new member of the Human Rights Council, it was critical for
Malawi to attend the Session physically, at a high political level, to
interface with the Secretariat and efficiently discharge her
responsibilities as a member representing Africa on her inception.
Malawi should be proud as a member of the Human Rights Council and
represent Africa honorably and efficiently and not be in the Council
merely to add numbers.
As such, it was extremely important for the
Honorable Minister to address the High-Level segment of the Session to
highlight its priorities and national efforts to promote and protect human �rights as well as the importance of enhanced international cooperation in
addressing current challenges and human rights concerns in a number
of countries and regions around the world. Being a hybrid Session, the
Minister led a small delegation to Geneva and delivered his statement on
24th February, 2021, which is widely circulated.
In furtherance to this, it has to be pointed out that there are several
engagements that the Malawi delegation will be involved with during this
Session besides the statement delivered by the Honorable Minister.
As a
member of the Council, Malawi has a wide range of bilateral and
multilateral engagements, all which require close and diligent
engagement including the decision making as well as adoption of
resolutions by the Council.
Furthermore, a wide range of human rights
matters on COVID-19 pandemic response, climate change, national
efforts to promote and protect human rights are discussed at higher
level.
Additionally, at the current Session, Malawi’s Universal Periodic Review
Report, which happens every three years, will be adopted by the Council
on 15th March, 2021.
It is therefore very unfortunate that some people
deliberately chose to misinform the nation that the whole Minister
travelled to Geneva to address a virtual meeting.
We therefore urge Malawians to seek clarifications or further information
whenever they are not clear or not familiar with certain issues in order to
get the actual truth on any issue.
The Ministry of Justice will make available all details of the 46th Session
at its conclusion on 23rd March, 2021. �