GENEVA, South Africa has called on the United Nations Human Rights Council to take a balanced approach to human rights, stressing that it needs to act in a manner which eflects the Vienna spirit of the indivisibility, inter-dependence and inter-relatedness of all human rights.

We need to prevent the misuse of human rights as an instrument for advancing political agendas of individual countries, Deputy Minister of International Relations and Co-operation Luwellyn Landers, said Tuesday when addressing the high-level segment of the 37th session of the UNHRC now underway in Geneva.

Landers told the session, which is marking the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted in 1948 by the UN General Assembly, that there were still areas which constituted “unfinished business” for the international community.

These include the legacy of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, as well as poverty and inequality which are sometimes altered by some leaders who are not concerned about effects of their utterances which border on incitement to hatred.

Landers said the world can only eliminate them through collective effort and co-operation. As a moral leader for the promotion and protection of human rights, the Council should not turn a blind eye to this major challenge of our times. It is important to work constructively with member States in combatting these scourges.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK