The Secretary of State for European Affairs Pedro Lourtie will travel to Geneva, March 1,2 to attend the Human Rights Council 13th Session, a body created by the UN Member States responsible for strengthening the advancement and protection of human rights around the globe.

The Secretary of State will speak on the first day of the Session’s High-Level Segment, during which Portugal’s human rights revision exercise should be formally approved. Pedro Lourtie together with the State Secretary for the Interior presented the national report in Geneva on December 4 - the result of a joint effort of different ministries and public authorities, under the coordination of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Pedro Lourtie will take this opportunity to promote the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, a new international treaty on human rights, resulting from a Portuguese initiative and that was opened for signature at UN Headquarters in New York, September 2009.