AS DELIVERED

We would like to thank the delegation from Antigua and Barbuda for their work on this resolution. We appreciate their effort to highlight this issue and note the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, specifically Article 21, which addresses freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas on an equal basis with others and through all forms of communication of their choice, including by recognizing and promoting the use of sign languages.

Additionally, we understand preambular paragraphs 1 and 2 to refer to the United Nations when citing the “Organization” and understand the reference to “goals” in Article 1 of the Charter of the United Nations to refer to “purposes,” as stated in the text of the Charter itself.