Concluding Remarks at the Adoption of the
Third Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United States
As delivered by Lisa Peterson
Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
Geneva, March 17, 2021
We complete our third Universal Periodic Review proud of our heritage as a nation conceived in liberty, and firmly dedicated to the proposition that all persons are created equal.
As Secretary Blinken said before the Human Rights Council, the United States is placing democracy and human rights at the center of our foreign policy, because they are essential for peace, prosperity, and stability.
American leadership still matters. We will exercise that leadership with humility, knowing that we have a great deal of work to do at home to enhance our standing abroad, but also knowing that no single country acting alone, can fully and effectively address these problems.
The United Nations is uniquely poised to take on our shared global challenges. When – collectively – we are consistent and persistent in acting according to the values upon which it was founded, the United Nations can be an indispensable institution for advancing peace, security, and our collective well-being. When we falter in the defense of those values, others will come to fill the void, and the global community suffers, and so do American interests.