On 16 January 2019, Mrs. Kanchana Patarachoke, Director-General of the Department of International Organizations, represented Thailand at the Human Rights Council Intersessional Meeting for dialogue and cooperation on human rights and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the United Nations Office in Geneva. During the panel discussion on “Building synergies between human rights and SDG implementation at the national level,” the Director-General shared Thailand’s experiences in integrating human rights work and sustainable development goals, alongside panelists from Panama, Burkina Faso and the Danish Institute for Human Rights.

The Director-General raised examples of Thailand’s national mechanisms on human rights and sustainable development which seek to localise sustainable development and foster public participation in development. Furthermore, the National Committee on Human Rights has been established and will set up a Sub-Committee on International Human Rights Treaties to serve as a platform to synergise data collection for reporting obligations under various human rights conventions to which Thailand is a State Party.

During general discussions, H.E. Mr. Sek Wannamethee, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Thailand to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Geneva, intervened on behalf of ASEAN, reaffirming ASEAN’s determination to advance human rights and sustainable development agenda while highlighting that sustainability is at the core of Thailand’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2019.

The Intersessional Meeting was organised pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 37/24 which acknowledged that the promotion and protection of human rights and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are interrelated and mutually reinforcing. The summary report of the discussions of the Meeting will feed into the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development to be held in New York at the ministerial level under the auspices of ECOSOC in July 2019 and at the leaders’ level under the auspices of UNGA (SDG Summit) in September 2019.