Thank you Mr President

The Kingdom of the Netherlands aligns itself with the EU statement.

We would like to thank Ms. Ghanea and her office for this important and thorough report. It sets out the rich landscape of the interlinkage between the freedom of conscience, of thought, of religion and the other human rights which are all of fundamental importance to human dignity.

We would like to support your recommendation to cooperate with all stakeholders, to be inclusive and to look beyond the usual partners. The Netherlands fully underlines it is crucial that the partners we engage with be a reflection of our societies, in all its diversity.

In this light, our question to the special Rapporteur will be: how can the international community improve its efforts to ensure broad and diverse cooperation to strengthen Freedom of Religion or Belief, allowing people to participate meaningfully and contribute openly and equally in society.  

Thank you Mr President