Madam Chair, Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

Let me thank you and to your team, Madame Chair, for your hard preparatory work. I’d also like to express my gratitude to UN Secretary-General António Guterres for his strong commitment to implement the agenda of women participation into activities of the whole organization.

Rural women and girls are among the most marginalized members of our societies, in both developed and developing countries. Yet, they play an important role in rural development, poverty eradication, sustainable development and the building of resilient societies. It is crucial to recognize the contributions of these groups of citizens and to ensure that they are front and center of our planning and implementation of laws, policies and strategies. Only then can we fulfill the promise of leaving no one behind as confirmed by the 2030 Agenda.

The Czech Republic at present holds the Presidency in the Economic and Social Council. The priority theme of the Presidency focuses on “sustainable, resilient and inclusive societies through participation of all” which indeed includes the issue of equality. Hence, the overarching topic of this session fits very well with the priorities of our Presidency.

The empowerment of rural women and girls and the realization of their human rights are crucial to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Czech Republic will continue within its programmes of development and transformation cooperation to address some of the persistent challenges faced by rural women and girls and to identify ways and means to empower them.

In the Czech Republic, local action groups are crucial for local and regional development and they represent an important tool of community led local development. Those groups include local municipalities, non-governmental organizations, private sector and individuals and are based on the bottom-up principle. Currently, there are more than 150 local action groups in the Czech Republic and women play essential role in many of them. Women often provide different perspective and therefore are the initiating force of improvements of social and health-care services, public transport accessibility or child-care services.

Madam Chair, The Czech Republic is running for membership in the Human Rights Council for 2019 – 2021; and as such wishes to re-emphasize her commitment to promote empowerment of women, gender equality and women peace and security agenda. The Czech Republic pledges to continue challenging gender stereotypes in the society and creating equal opportunities for women and men including through measures to increase participation of women in decision making and in politics. Furthermore, the Czech Republic pledges to work on early ratification of the Istanbul Convention.

Thank you Madame Chair,

Thank you.