Uganda has urged the community of countries at the United Nations to respect the sovereignty of member states in observing human rights.
This call was made by the Vice President, Jessica Alupo on Thursday while addressing the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, USA.
“The Constitution of Uganda provides for protection of the rights and freedoms of all Ugandans as well as for the promotion of culture. Uganda has institutional safeguards which address grievances of human rights abuses,” Alupo said.
She added, “Our approach to human rights is to respect other people’s values and we expect others to respect our values which are deep rooted in our culture. We therefore call for mutual respect of sovereignty. We believe that Human Rights considerations especially in the face of varying cultural values, should not become the moderating factor in our long-term relationship with our development partners with whom we will continue to engage in a proactive manner.”
This year’s summit is held under the theme; “Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: accelerating action on the 2030 agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals toward peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all.”
Uganda became a centre of global focus a few months ago when President Yoweri Museveni assented to the Anti-Homosexuality Law, an action that drew condemnations from some world leaders. However, in her speech, Alupo took a bold stand in calling for mutual respect, one that has been Uganda’s position.
Alupo also reiterated Uganda’s commitment to “shoulder its responsibilities and obligations in addressing the plight of refugees as a pioneer of the progressive refuge policy outlined in the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework.”
Uganda is home to the largest refugee population in Africa and the 3rd largest in the world. The country has won worldwide commendation for her policy on hosting those displaced by conflicts in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the bulk of the refugees emanate.
“We are working closely with the UN and partners to address the root cause of displacement…we call upon Member States and stakeholders to continue their commitment to pledge towards initiatives that advance the principle of burden and responsibility sharing, central to the compact during the forthcoming Global Refugee Forum,” Alupo said.
On gender equality, the vice president highlighted Uganda’s strides in the sector saying 34.9% Uganda’s executive and parliamentary seats are currently a preserve of women. She added that Uganda has embarked on poverty alleviation programmes which target women and youth participation in the economy.
She also urged developed nations to fulfill their commitment of providing the USD100 billion annually to developing countries through 2025 to assist with respect to both mitigation and adaptation in line with the Paris Agreement. Adopted in 2015, the agreement is an international treaty on climate change that covers mitigation, adaptation, and finance.
With Uganda set to host the Non-Aligned Movement and G77 summits in January 2024, the vice president said that as chair, Uganda “will work closely with other NAM countries to further strengthen the tenets and values of the Organisation and the important role that the Movement plays within the United Nations and other international fora.”
At the summit, Sustainable Development Goals and how countries were working to achieve them, took centre stage in most of the deliberations. Alupo revealed that despite the setbacks caused by the COVID19 pandemic, Uganda took it as an opportunity to “rethink and reinforce our commitment to healthcare and the Sustainable Development Goals.”