Amr Abul Atta, Egypt’s permanent representative to the United Nations, has warned against attempts to include terms of the sexual identity and orientation on the UN agenda.
Abul Atta said the move does not conform to some countries’ commitments to international agreements like the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and Convention on the Rights of the Child, especially its terms on right of child to know his identity.
In a speech at the ceremony in the 20th anniversary of the International Year of the Family, Abul Atta stressed that Egypt believes in the traditional understanding of the family, which is the main unit that forms society and he aruged is in charge of protecting children.
He added that family-related issues should be taken care of according to laws, traditions, cultural and religious backgrounds of every country.
He expressed Egypt’s discontent toward the ongoing attempts by some countries, during the third committee of the UN General Assembly, over imposing the sexual identity and orientation in decisions related to family and child on other countries.
Abul Atta highlighted Egypt’s rejection toward all of these attempts, saying that such terms have not gained international acceptance and were not included in any of the international charters of human rights. He argued that these ideas will have negative impacts on the societal unit of the family in the future.
He described such attempts, rejected in Egypt as well as other countries and civil society organizations, as unprecedented in the United Nations.
Edited translation from MENA
