The 50th regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHR), which will run from 13 June to 8 July 2022, is getting under way in Geneva. Among the topics in the focus of the session, Slovenia will pay particular attention to issues related to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, human rights, and the environment, and will also react to the worrying human rights situation in individual countries.

The Ministry of Culture is flying the rainbow Pride flag during the month of June as a sign of its support for the LGBTQI+ community. The minister Dr Asta Vrečko took part in Ljubljana’s pride parade on 11 June 2022.

International Geneva celebrates bees today to raise global awareness on the crucial role of bees and pollination for food security, the elimination of hunger and and biodiversity. This is the fifth time that World Bee Day is celebrated in Geneva after it was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 2017 at Slovenia’s initiative with support of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Today marks the fifth World Bee Day, declared by the UN General Assembly on Slovenia’s initiative on 20 December 2017. In this European Year of Youth, World Bee Day is dedicated to the future of beekeeping and the role of young people in raising awareness of its importance.

Today marks the beginning of the 12th session of the Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing (OEWGA) focusing on the contribution of older persons to sustainable development and economic security. Slovenia, as a staunch advocate for regulating the rights of older persons through international law, is represented by State Secretary Dr Stanislav Raščan.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomes the vote of the UN General Assembly to suspend the Russian Federation’s rights of membership in the Human Rights Council.

State Secretary Stanislav Raščan today attended a virtual high-level meeting on food and nutrition crises in the Sahel and Lake Chad regions. He announced Slovenia’s humanitarian contribution worth EUR 50,000 in 2022, which will be channelled through the World Food Programme (WFP) to meet the most urgent needs in the central Sahel.

State Secretary Dr Stanislav Raščan took part in the High-level Pledging Event on Supporting the Humanitarian Response in Afghanistan. In his intervention, he announced that Slovenia would contribute another EUR 50,000 through the United Nations Population Fund – UNFPA for addressing the most urgent humanitarian needs of the Afghan people.

State Secretary Stanislav Raščan pledged a new contribution from Slovenia to the World Food Programme (WFP) worth EUR 80,000 at the international High-Level Pledging Conference for the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen, co-hosted by the UN, Switzerland and Sweden.

Foreign Minister Anže Logar took part in the urgent debate of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council on the human rights situation in Ukraine, which was convened on the initiative of Ukraine due to Russian aggression in Ukraine.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anže Logar used his video address on the joint humanitarian call and the regional plan to assist Ukrainian refugees from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to announce a humanitarian contribution of the Republic of Slovenia amounting to EUR 1.1 million.

Acting as Minister for Development Cooperation, State Secretary Raščan addressed the participants of an important virtual event marking the launch of the Digital for Development (D4D) Hub in Latin America and the Caribbean. This is a multi-stakeholder mechanism of the “Team Europe” initiative, the aim of which is to strengthen dialogue and partnership in digitalisation to promote a human-centric digital transformation.

Slovenia will formally announce its candidature for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2024–2025 term in New York today. The decision on the candidature put forth on the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was adopted by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia after having been considered by the Committee on Foreign Policy of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia.

On the 70th anniversary of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), State Secretary Stanislav Raščan took part in a hybrid meeting of the IOM Council in Geneva via videolink. The high-level panel focussed on the impact of COVID-19 on borders, migration and mobility.

The United Nations was established on this day 76 years ago. The theme for this year’s General Assembly is Building Resilience through Hope – post-pandemic recovery, rebuilding sustainability, responding to the needs of the planet, respecting the rights of people, and revitalisation of the United Nations.

After four weeks, the 48th session of the UN Human Rights Council drew to a close on Monday, 11 October. This meeting was one of the most demanding meetings for Slovenia in recent years, as it participated as the Chair of Council of the European Union and was in charge of several initiatives.

At the 48th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, resolutions on the right to a healthy, clean and sustainable environment and on the rights of the elderly were adopted on the initiative of Slovenia and like-minded states.

State Secretary Stanislav Raščan participated at the opening session of the Geneva Dialogue on responsible behaviour in cyberspace along with Livia Leu, State Secretary at the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, and Gaurav Keerthi, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Cyber Security Agency of Singapore. This edition of the virtual event centred around the security of digital products and its regulatory framework.

The European Delegation to the United Nations in Geneva, the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN in Geneva, the Permanent Mission of Slovenia to the UN Office and other international organisations in Geneva in capacity as Presidency of the Council of the EU, and the Geneva Internet Platform invite you to a series of dialogues - From Geneva: Reflections on digital future. The first event will be taking place on Wednesday, 22 September 2021.

The human race against the climate crisis clock is the theme of this year’s World Humanitarian Day, which is being marked today. To save our planet from the devastating and lasting effect of climate change, this year’s humanitarian day is dedicated to raising public awareness about humanitarian workers and their efforts aimed at alleviating the effects of climate change and about the victims who lost everything as a consequence.