UN General Assembly
2023

In December, we will celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Last December, we reaffirmed our unwavering commitment to speak out against violations of human rights, wherever they occur. There is no hierarchy when it comes to human rights abuses. We need to resist attempts to undermine or hollow out existing commitments. Aotearoa New Zealand will continue to fiercely protect the rights of women and girls. New Zealand has long and deep connections to the Pacific through language, peoples, ocean, history, culture, politics and shared interests. We also have a strong connection to the wider Indo-Pacific region. We are concerned that the order that has underpinned prosperity and security in our region for most of the past seven decades is increasingly fraying. We do not believe that recent events witnessed in other parts of the world need become the inevitable trajectory of our blue Pacific region.