Opening speech Human Rights and Equality Forum 2024, Yesim Oruc, Resident Coordinator of UN Moldova

It is an honor to open the third edition of the Human Rights and Equality Forum on behalf of the United Nations Team together with the Peoples Advocate, Equality Council, Minister of Justice and other key partners. Thank you.  

Human rights are about people. Human rights are about education and health. They are about decent work and livable wages; they are about clean water and sanitation. They are about being able to speak out, to be able to choose our political leaders... They are about who we are as human beings and how we live together. They are the legal commitments all states have made thanks to the many struggles of many before us.  

Human rights are not abstract ideas or ideologies. They are not the ideology or the property of the West or a set of countries in Europe or of the East or another set of countries, or of the north or the south or of a region in any country. They are the instruments we have created to end racism, colonialism, to end discrimination against women, to protect children and the list goes on. Therefore, if I may be allowed one message, let me make this the message: do not let human rights become the fodder of petty politics, populist narratives, or geopolitical posturing. They are too valuable; they are too precious to become the plaything of fleeting ideologies or partisan politics. 

Human rights are not meant for endless debates, they are practical tools for giving voice to each one of us, to each one of you who for one reason or another is left helpless, hopeless vulnerable, voiceless, homeless, stateless.

For the past 18 years, the United Nations in Moldova has organized the annual UN Human Rights Awards given on Human Rights Day. 

On today’s Human Rights Day we particularly focus on how human rights are a pathway to solutions. We celebrate the tangible impact of human rights by showcasing the work, the impact, successes and practical solutions of human rights champions in Moldova, human rights champions who work on both banks of the Nistru who protect and support the most vulnerable ones, children, women, older persons and persons with disabilities, and countless others. Allow me in this context to highlight the ONE UN Joint Action "Cross-river support for Human Rights" implemented by seven UN entities: IOM, OHCHR, UNAIDS, UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA and UNODC and funded by Sweden.

Going back to where I started to the basic tenet that human rights are about people. This year’s Human Rights Day is also about the many refugees whose rights have been torn by war. That is why you see us marking today with our Refugee Response Platform, thanks to the generous contributions of all its donors.  

In closing I wish to thank all the UN entities in Moldova, starting with the OHCHR and its representatives for holding the human rights torch alight despite the trying times and all the contributions financial and other from multiple perspectives from UN entities, notably UNAIDS, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF,  UN Women, WHO are supporting the event along of course with UNHCR which is coming in with the largest share of funding of this year’s events through the RRP partners. Thank you all!

I thank Council of Europe, the Equality Council for the partnership and the Minister and Ministry of Justice with whom I started the 16 Days of Activism to end violence against women and femicide – arguably one of the most egregious forms of human rights violation and the Ombudsman who has been our key human rights partner in the county. 

But above all I thank all of you, all the workers and practitioners of human rights for your daily work in showing us the way, the solutions and the rights way to live in dignity and peace. 

Thank you.