Greetings delegates,

​

Welcome to the United Nations Human Rights Council at NIMUN XVI.

 

As both Secretary-General of this conference and Chair of this committee, I want this message to be more than a formality; this agenda matters to me.

This committee's mandate, "Examining the Humanitarian Consequences of Tensions and Armed Conflicts, with Emphasis on Civilian Protection, Displacement, and Humanitarian Access," does not deal in abstractions. Displaced families do not appear as statistics; they appear as people who had homes, and then did not. Humanitarian access is not a policy term; it is the difference between aid reaching a hospital and aid stopped at a checkpoint.

Over these two days, this room will hold real weight. You will speak for governments that have made difficult, sometimes indefensible choices, and you will have to argue their case anyway. That is what this council asks of you: not comfort, but rigor.

​

The floor is yours to lead. Welcome to UNHRC.

​

​

With best wishes,
Zeus Lalani
Chairperson

United Nations Human Rights Council