“Italy is committed to ensure the protection and promotion of human rights, respect for life and equal rights for every person. Human rights are universal, indivisible and fundamental to achieve peace and security, justice and sustainable development. Italy has a long-standing involvement in the Human Rights Council. We are deeply convinced of its crucial role, just as we are convinced that our great capacity for cooperation, dialogue and concrete action can contribute significantly to its work”. This is what the Minister for Disabilities, Alessandra Locatelli, said, speaking in Geneva at the high-level segment of the 58th session of the Human Rights Council.
“This is the reason why we have submitted our country’s candidacy to the Human Rights Council for the 2026-2028 mandate”, she added. “A candidature that seeks to build bridges and promote dialogue between different countries. We believe that only by working together within the framework of the United Nations we can build a future in which human rights are not just principles written in treaties, but realities experienced by everyone”.
At the end of her speech, Minister Locatelli officially opened the exhibition ‘The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities through the Eyes of Young People’, created from the cartoon ‘The important thing is to win…Together’ in cooperation with Scuola Umbra di Amministrazione Pubblica. The twenty graphic panels have already been displayed at the Solfagnano Castle during the first G7 meeting on Inclusion and Disability, and at the Delegates Entrance of the United Nations Building in New York. Among the many speakers: Fabio Ciciliano, Head of the Civil Protection Department; Rosario Valastro, President of the Italian Red Cross; Tatiana Valovaya, Director General of the UN Office in Geneva; Nada Al Nashif, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Opening the exhibition, the Minister recalled that among the eight priorities of the Solfagnano Charter, the final document of the G7 meeting on Inclusion and Disability Summit, there is the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in case of conflicts and humanitarian crises: “We need targeted and specific protocols – she said -. The Italian Government and the Italian Red Cross announced the pledge opened at the 34th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent last October to strengthen the protection and inclusion of persons with disabilities during conflicts and disasters. We therefore appeal to all stakeholders – including States, National Societies, Civil Society Organisations – to support this commitment and collaborate for its implementation. Only together we can do more and better, ensuring a concrete and coordinated action to defend the rights of persons with disabilities”.
