South Africa: 8th Human Rights Dialogue with the EU
South Africa and the European Union (EU) held the 8th session of their Human Rights Dialogue Forum on 27 February 2024, in Pretoria, South Africa. The session was held back-to-back with the South Africa-EU Political and Security Dialogue Forum, which took place a day before. South Africa and the EU are natural partners for the advancement of the human rights agenda.
In the dialogue session, the EU and South Africa reiterated their commitment to the universality and indivisibility of human rights as well as to the strengthening of the multilateral human rights system.
Both parties also exchanged views on wide-ranging human rights topics of mutual interest, including human rights defenders, the anti-racism agenda, gender equality and women’s empowerment. In this regard, the two delegations agreed on the need to strengthen mechanisms to protect civic space and uphold human rights for all, redoubling efforts to fight any form of discrimination. South Africa and the EU discussed the right to development and agreed on the importance of ensuring that any legally binding instrument on the right to development is fully consistent with international human rights law. The two sides also exchanged on progress on the business and human rights agenda and respective stances on the possible establishment of legally binding instrument on transnational corporation and other business enterprises. The elaboration of international regulatory framework governing the activities of private military and security companies was also discussed.
The EU and South Africa also focused on cooperation in relevant UN multilateral fora on human rights-related matters. Both sides agreed to intensify cooperation at the Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly Third Committee and acknowledged areas of agreement and disagreement. To this end, the two sides agreed to work closely together during the forthcoming 55th Session of the Human Rights Council on specific topics that may include amongst others, freedom of religion or belief, the rights of the child, the rights of persons with disabilities, the rights of LGBTQI persons.
Upholding human rights is at the core of the EU-South Africa Strategic Partnership. South Africa and the EU agreed to continue furthering their cooperation in this field and to hold the 9th EU-South Africa Structured Dialogue Forum on Human Rights in 2025 in Brussels.
The dialogue session was co-chaired by Z. Dangor, Director-General of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, and Rita Laranjinha, Managing Director for Africa at the European External Action Service.