Statement by Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mrs Marina Kaljurand to the 59th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights

Honorable Members of the Commission,
Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Madame Chairperson,

At the outset, I would like to congratulate Mr. Sergio Vieira de Mello upon his appointment as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and wish him every success in his important work, and would like to assure that Estonia will fully support his endeavors. Estonia expects this Commission to successfully contribute to the promotion of human rights in the spirit of cooperation under the new chairperson Ambassador Al-Hajjaji. This is also an excellent opportunity to express our gratitude to the outgoing chairman Ambassador Jakubowski. 

As Estonia has aligned itself to the European Union statement delivered by Greece, the current presentation reflects mainly the national developments and areas of concern.

We recognize that international cooperation in the field of human rights is of utmost importance. Estonia has, over the years, successfully cooperated with the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe both in the implementation of existing norms, and the development of new human rights standards.

The Human Rights Commission has played a crucial role in the promotion of human freedom, human dignity, and international peace - all essential elements of what are generally known as human rights. And I am proud, that Estonia has a role to play in this global effort.

Madame Chairperson,

At the end of this year, delegates from the UN Member States will gather, here in Geneva, for the first World Summit on Information Society. We in Estonia believe that the integration of information technology into our government structure constitutes one of the ways for better implementation of human rights for the promotion of democracy. Estonia has implemented the concept of e-state in order to achieve the goals of an open society. We are confident that our experience is worth sharing.

This year, Estonia has launched, together with the UNDP and the Open Society Institute, an e–state Academy project. The aim of the project is to provide training in the field of state-provided Internet services for officials from Central-European, Trans-Caucasian, and Balkan countries.

The development of the Internet and communication technologies would be meaningless without the existence of a dynamic civil society. For this end the Parliament has recently adopted the Estonian Civil Society Development Concept. This creates a firm basis for the cooperation of the public- and the non-profit sector in supporting and promoting the non-profit activities and increases the social capital of Estonia.

Madam Chairperson,

Estonia believes that the protection of human rights, in addition to the court system, should be in the hands of an independent official accountable only to the Parliament. According to the Legal Chancellor’s Act adopted in 1999, the Legal Chancellor also performs the functions of the ombudsman. 

I am pleased to inform you that the recent amendments to the Legal Chancellor’s Act extended the competence of the Legal Chancellor to disputes concerning discrimination between individuals. He has as well the obligation to promote the observance of principles of equal treatment and gender equality. 

Serious international efforts are necessary to fight against all forms of organized crime. In that regard the adoption of the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and its Palermo Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, to which Estonia is a signatory, is an important development and creates a strong bases for our activities in this field. 

In 2001, a joint Nordic-Baltic Information Campaign was launched against trafficking in women, based on the Palermo Protocol. The Nordic-Baltic campaign began in Tallinn, in May 2002, with the participation of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Nordic and Baltic states consider this campaign as the beginning of a systematically organized, long-term cooperation in the fight against trafficking in women. The overall objective of the campaign was to raise awareness in all countries about the problem of trafficking in women in our region.

Madame Chairperson,

Gender equality, and the fight against discrimination of women is an important part of the modern human rights protection system. Estonia has taken concrete steps to this aim. Every year the Government adopts an Action Plan, which stipulates the priorities for the coming year in the field of promoting gender equality. In the plan particular attention is paid to the reconciliation of family and working life, the promotion of women’s business activities, equal pay for equal work of equal value, and the dissemination of relevant information. Special steps are foreseen for dealing with issues concerning elderly women aiming to improve the coping strategy of the elderly and to make a more thorough evaluation of the positive roles that they do and can play in our society.

The Third Baltic Sea Women's Conference on WoMen and Democracy was held in February 2003, in Tallinn. About 600 representatives of national institutions, the research community, and non-governmental organizations of the Baltic States, Nordic countries, Russia, Poland, Germany, and the United States attended the conference.

The aim of the Conference was to encourage the development of dialogue between politicians, researchers, civil servants, NGOs, and other experts in the field of gender equality. The Conference led to closer cooperation between the participants and facilitated new important initiatives to empower women and to increasingly bring them into the mainstream of social, business, scientific, and technological development. The conference concentrated on finding new ways to support women’s business activities and gender equality at the municipal level, and to fight the trafficking in women and the violence against women in partnership relations.

I am happy to say, that although some differences still exist between the career opportunities open to men and women, the number of top women managers in business, and the number of women decision makers in politics is increasing constantly. I am pleased to note that in the present Government there are four women Ministers, two of who are holding for the first time untraditional portfolios such as Foreign Affairs and Economic Affairs.  We are convinced, that women should play an equal role in setting the political agenda and in decision making in our country. 

Madam Chairperson,

In the context of the European Year of Disabled People the Government has adopted the National Policy Action Plan for Disabled Persons for 2003 concerning the implementation of the UN Standard Regulations for Providing Equal Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities.

Remarkable progress has been made in the field of integration towards truly multicultural and multiethnic society.  Estonia has followed a constant inclusion policy to integrate non-Estonians into the Estonian society. The cornerstone of our integration policy is implementation of the State Program “Integration in Estonian Society 2000-2007”.

Estonia actively supports the drafting of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the further development of international standards, as well as national legislation, for the protection and promotion of human rights of indigenous people. Estonia supports the Commission in its goal to adopt the Declaration by end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples in 2004. In that context I should mention, that Estonia, together with Hungary and Finland, has, over the years, supported the cultural activities of indigenous Finno-Ugric and Uralic people.

Estonia is a regular donor to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations, and to the Fund for the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples and welcomes the Commission on Human Rights decision to appoint a Special Rapporteur to monitor the human rights situation and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people.

Madame Chairperson,

The promotion and protection of human rights is the primary responsibility of every government and Estonia continues to extend its support and cooperation to the Office of the High Commissioner as well as the treaty monitoring bodies.

Thank You