Shahid to highlight Maldives' human rights achievements at 43rd session of UNHRC

Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid is to speak at the 43rd UN Human Rights Council.

While the minister arrived in Geneva on Monday morning, he is listed to address the High-Level Segment of the Council on February 25. The three-day event will be held from 24-26 February.

Noting that 80 member states of the Human Rights Council and various international organizations will be in attendance, the foreign ministry said that Shahid will highlight “the human rights achievements of the government.” He will also “touch upon various international human rights issues.”

The foreign minister is also scheduled to meet with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, on the sidelines of the segment. Noting that both parties will “engage in bilateral discussions with his counterparts from different countries and multilateral organisations,” the ministry said that these discussions “are expected to enhance the pre-existing cooperation of the Maldives with its international partners in the field of human rights and explore avenues for further cooperation.”

Shahid will also actively participate in in three side events hosted by the Commonwealth of Nations, Alliance for Multilateralism and the Contact Group on Council Membership respectively, during the high-level segment.

The minister will be accompanied by Maldives’ Permanent Representative to the UN Office in Geneva Hala Hameed, foreign minister’s ambassador at-large Asim Ahmed and other officials of the permanent mission in Geneva.