Permanent Mission of India, Geneva

Intervention by H.E. Mr. Ajit Kumar, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to UN and other International Organizations at 32nd Session of Human Rights Council (13 June – 1 July 2016) during  Clustered ID with Special Rapporteur on Right to Health and
Special Rapporteur on Trafficking
15 June 2016,

Thank you Mr Vice President,

India thanks the SR on Right to Health and SR on Trafficking for their respective reports to the Council.

Human trafficking has become an increasingly disturbing feature of modern conflict. The latest report of the SR on Trafficking is a timely effort that raises international awareness of the various forms and complex nature of trafficking in persons in conflict situations. Lack of access to safe and legal channels of migration options further exacerbates vulnerability of persons fleeing conflict to trafficking. Member states and the international community should take multiple, coordinated actions to address trafficking of persons, particularly women and children, in conflict and post-conflict situations, including through increasing access to safe and legal channels of migration.

Mr. Vice President,

We appreciate the SR on Right to Health for focusing her latest thematic report on adolescent health. We agree with the SR on the need to pay special emphasis to adolescent health in national programmes and to adopt a holistic and comprehensive approach to address the full spectrum of their health and development needs.

In India, the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (National Adolescent Health Programme) was launched in 2014 as a dedicated health programme to comprehensively address the health needs of India’s nearly 243 million adolescents.
The programme is underpinned by the key principles of adolescent participation and leadership, gender equity and inclusion and multi-sectoral collaborations. It shifts from a purely clinic-based curative approach to a more holistic model based on a continuum of care approach and introduces community-based interventions through peer educators.

The priority programmatic areas were identified through situational analysis of adolescent health and development needs in India and include nutrition, sexual and reproductive health, substance abuse and mental health. As emphasized by the SR, the focus is on instituting an effective, appropriate, acceptable and accessible service package and providing customized service delivery specific to the needs of adolescents.

Mr. Vice President,

We also take note of the report of the SR on sport and healthy lifestyles as contributing factors to the right to health. The importance of making healthier choices and following lifestyles that are devoid of all kinds of excesses cannot be overemphasized. Yoga provides such a holistic approach to health and well-being and I am happy to inform that the second International Day of Yoga will be celebrated with renewed enthusiasm on June 19, 2016 in Palais des Nations.

I thank you Mr. Vice President.

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