 The High Commissioner of Wolkaterk, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, as the international community marks Human Rights Day and celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the governments of Chile, Denmark, Ghana, Indonesia, Morocco and my own country, Fiji. As core states spearheading the Convention Against Toche Initiative or CTI, we wish to underscore that torture eradication is a key building block to advancing freedom, equality, justice and dignity for all as enshrined in the UDHR. We pledge to continue in our efforts to support states on their journeys to rectify and effectively implement the UN Convention Against Torture, another cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, in line with Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Our efforts will also contribute to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, providing access to justice for all and building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions as embodied in Goal 16 of the SDGs are at the heart of effective anti-torture policies and strategies. By becoming party to the UN Convention Against Torture or ANCET states our blights to prevent and prohibit such a boring practice through criminalising acts of torture, providing training to public officials and excluding torture-tainted evidence among other measures. Through building strong and accountable institutions, our governments can successfully implement the Convention's goals while sustaining peaceful communities and contributing to sustainable development. At this juncture, I am pleased to report that a state from the Pacific region will be acceding to ANCET in the next few weeks and will become the 174th State Party to the Convention, joining six other Pacific Island states who are already parties. On such an occasion, as core states of CTI, we call on all states who are yet to do so to become a party to ANCET. And I trust we will be joining our efforts to secure a torture-free world.