Women, Peace and Security: Preventing conflict-related sexual violence through demilitarisation and gender-responsive arms control

New York, 23 April 2024

Mr. President,

We express our appreciation to Malta for organizing this debate today.

Allow me to thank the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Pramila Pattern, for her insightful presentation, and Ms. Ahmadi and Ms. Gurira for their valuable inputs. [Read more…]

Statement by the Commissioner on Gender Equality of the Republic of Cyprus, Ms. Iosifina Christodoulou

New York, 18 March 2024

Madame Chair,

Cyprus aligns with the statement delivered by the European Union. Allow me to add some remarks with my national capacity. [Read more…]

Sixth Committee – Agenda item 161: Report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country

78th Session of the UNGA – 6 November 2023

Mr. Chairperson,

It is an honor to address the Sixth Committee in my capacity as Chair of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country to introduce this year’s Report of the Committee contained in document A/78/26, that was adopted on the 20th October.

The Report was prepared in accordance with General Assembly Resolution 77/114 of 7 December 2022 and it follows the structure of previous years. It is divided into four chapters: [Read more…]

Item 73 – “Report of the International Court of Justice”

78^th Session of the UNGA, New York, 6 November 2023

Mr. President,

At the outset, allow me, on behalf of my country, Cyprus, to express our sincere gratitude to the President of the Court, Joan E. Donoghue, for the introduction of the report. We also want to thank the President and the judges of the Court, as well as the Registrar and the staff of the Court for their commitment to justice and international law. [Read more…]

Agenda Item 71-Promotion and Protection of Human Rights 

New York, 17 October 2023

Mr. Chair,

Cyprus fully aligns to the statement delivered by the European Union. Allow me to make the following remarks in my national capacity.

Human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated. All States have the obligation to respect, protect and fulfil human rights as set in the UN conventions. No justification can be used as a pretext for the violation of human rights. [Read more…]

Third Committee, Agenda Item 25 “Advancement of Women”

New York, 3 October 2023

Mr. Chair,

Cyprus fully aligns to the statement delivered by the European Union. Allow me to make some additional remarks in my national capacity.

Despite positive steps and progress made in recent years, we are lacking behind our goal to achieve gender equality.  The challenges are many, exacerbated by factors such as instability and fragility caused by conflicts, climate change and pandemics. It is indeed worrisome that at this critical midpoint, none of SDG 5 “Gender Equality” indicators are at “target met or almost met”, according to the latest gender snapshot report on SDGs progress. [Read more…]