Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Durkan for raising this important issue this evening. Today marks the tenth anniversary of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, sometimes known as the Istanbul Convention. It is a timely reminder of the impact of Covid-19, particularly regarding the increasing incidences of domestic violence against women during the pandemic. As Deputy Durkan is aware, women are to the fore in providing healthcare and support for those affected by the pandemic. Furthermore, in many countries, the economic downturn and closure of schools means that many girls are not returning to education, which undermines decades of progress in human rights and sustainable development goals. I am also very conscious that access to human-rights monitors, from the UN to civil society organisations, are severely curtailed because of the travel and other restrictions during the pandemic.

Ireland has been very active in promoting and protecting human rights at the United Nations through our current membership of the UN Security Council, the Human Rights Council in Geneva and the Third Committee of the General Assembly. Deputy Durkan will be aware that Ireland took up its seat on the UN Security Council on 1 January. Since then, we have been working across the full council agenda, which includes some 30 country and 20 thematic files. Promoting respect for human rights, accountability, and compliance with international law is central to our efforts.

In recent months, for example, we addressed the issues in Myanmar and Ethiopia. Myanmar has been a focus of the UN Security Council since the coup in February. During discussions at the council, Ireland has highlighted concerns for the protection of human rights, the humanitarian situation and the rule of law, in line with our values. We are also active at the Human Rights Council and support the work of the UN Secretary General and his special envoy on Myanmar.

On Ethiopia, Ireland has been very proactive in encouraging the council to focus on this crisis. We initiated council discussions on the deeply concerning humanitarian situation in Tigray in February and March. We led negotiations on a press statement on Ethiopia, which was adopted by the council on 22 April. This was the first time the council spoke publicly on the situation there. The statement called for unfettered humanitarian access in Tigray and expressed deep concern about human rights violations and, in particular, sexual violence against women and girls. We have raised concerns about human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in a wide range of other contexts. We will continue to do so throughout the term on the council.

More broadly across the UN system, Ireland is a strong supporter of the work of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, who I have met on a number of occasions - in February and in March - at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. We delivered more than 20 statements on thematic and country-specific human rights situations including Myanmar, Syria, Iran, Yemen, South Sudan, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Eritrea, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territory.

As I will be speaking immediately after this debate about the issue of Israel and Palestine, I will not cover that now. I am, however, very concerned about the deteriorating human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and will speak about that in more detail. I am glad to be able to tell the House that I confirmed this evening that the UN Security Council will be discussing the deteriorating Israeli-Palestinian situation in a closed session tomorrow.

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