Estonia acknowledges the successful work done by UNITAD during the last reporting period, despite the challenging circumstances in the political and security sphere, as well as the COVID-19 restrictions.
We remain concerned about the recent eruption of violence in Sulaymaniyah, which endangers stability in Northern Iraq.
Estonia welcomes the recent renewal of UNITAD’s mandate for another year. We value the continued efforts of UNITAD to contribute to the ongoing accountability processes in Iraq with full respect for the principles and best practices of the United Nations.
We fully support the strategic priority of UNITAD of strengthening the capacity of Iraqi authorities, and commend the significant progress made by UNITAD in collaboration with the Iraqi authorities in the identification and collection of new sources of evidence.
We stress the importance of the continued work of UNITAD on the issues of sexual and gender-based violence, in the field of witness protection, as well as psychological support for witnesses and survivors to avoid secondary trauma through the respective UNITAD special units.
