STATEMENT
Human Rights Council 61nd Session.
Statement at the presentation of the draft resolution for the renewal of the mandate of the special rapporteur on the situation of
human rights defenders.
Statement delivered by Mr. Tormod C. Endresen,
Permanent Representative of Norway.
Check against delivery
30 March 2026
Thank you, Mr. President.
I am honored to present to the Human Rights Council draft resolution L.29 for the renewal for three years of the mandate of the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.
This is the seventh time the Human Rights Council will renew this mandate. It coincides with the 20th anniversary of the Council itself. We commend the consensus that Members of the Council have united around throughout these 18 years.
President,
The work of human rights defenders, including women human rights defenders, is as relevant as ever. The demand for their work increases as the pressure on them mounts and the resources for their work decrease.
Norway believes that human rights defenders are a great asset for our societies, be it during crisis and conflict or in peace-time. They occupy the shrinking, yet very important civic space. They contribute to the promotion and protection of all human rights, and to democratic, inclusive, peaceful and resilient societies.
Despite this, many of them continue to be at risk of violence, threats and harassment due to the nature of their work. Some are killed.
They are too often subject to reprisals for cooperating with the UN and other international organisations. This is unacceptable.
The mandate of the special rapporteur is vital for the protection of human rights defenders. It also serves as recognition of their work.
President,
We believe that the mandate provides the necessary relevance, effectiveness, and competence. Our approach was therefore to only make minor changes to the text. We also chose to make a contribution to efficiency by proposing a reduction in reporting to the General Assembly.
Some proposals from States were also taken up. As a result, this draft reflects a few new elements including the worrying trend of attacks against special procedure mandate holders. Such repressive activities interfere with their independence and are not acceptable.
We thank all delegations for engaging constructively in informal negotiations and bilateral discussions.
We also thank the co-sponsors for their ongoing support. I am pleased to inform you that we currently have over 60 co-sponsors representing all regions.
We invite other delegations to consider co-sponsoring this important resolution.
President,
The constructive spirit of the negotiations and the broad support have enabled us to once again to unite in support for the mandate, and, by extension, all human rights defenders.
I invite the Council to adopt this draft resolution by consensus.
Thank you.