A/HRC/23/29 Australia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Switzerland, Thailand, and Turkey. The following NGOs did not have the opportunity to speak: Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and Action Canada for Population and Development in a joint statement, CIVICUS - World Alliance for Citizen Participation, France Libertés: Fondation Danielle Mitterand, Indian Council of South America, and the International Service for Human Rights. Issues raised by stakeholders 42. All participants reaffirmed the importance of the VDPA, emphasizing that it represented a landmark in the promotion and protection of human rights. Many saw it as an inspirational and forward-looking document on human rights that remained valid and up-todate. As one delegation said, the VDPA mapped out the path we were to follow to be where we stand today. 43. Participants pointed to the various important principles enshrined in the VDPA. Delegations referred in particular to the fact that Vienna reaffirmed that all human rights were universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, and that the international community must treat human rights globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing, and with the same emphasis. This reaffirmation contributed to ensuring that civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights were treated equally. 44. Some States underlined the fact that the Vienna document indicated that, while the significance of national and regional particularities and various historical, cultural and religious backgrounds must be borne in mind, it was the duty of States, regardless of their political, economic and cultural systems, to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms. 45. Several participants stressed that, according to the VDPA, democracy, development and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms were interdependent and mutually reinforcing. 46. Similarly, it was recalled that the VDPA underscored that the protection and promotion of universal human rights and fundamental freedoms was the first responsibility of Governments. 47. Several speakers emphasized the fact that Vienna also placed much emphasis on the principle of international cooperation for human rights. The VDPA states, for example, that the promotion and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms must be considered as a priority objective of the United Nations in accordance with its purposes and principles, in particular the purpose of international cooperation. 48. More generally, participants referred to equality, equity, dignity, respect, tolerance and non-discrimination as important principles reaffirmed in the VDPA and stated that these principles should guide us today. It was recalled that the VDPA states that the place of disabled persons is everywhere, and made reference to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as the first post-Vienna treaty to address the exclusion and discrimination facing the estimated one billion persons with disabilities in the world. 49. In the view of some delegations, the VDPA reaffirmed the right to development in the promotion and protection of human rights, recognizing, inter alia, that lasting progress towards the implementation of the right to development required effective development policies at the national level, as well as equitable economic relations and a favourable economic environment at the international level. 11