A/HRC/61/49 (l) The principle that cultural or religious traditions or interpretations cannot justify human rights violations, in the context of sexual and reproductive health rights in Brazil;33 (m) The ongoing harm and cultural rights violations experienced by the people of the Marshall Islands, as a result of the former nuclear testing programme of the United States.34 11. The Special Rapporteur followed up on her letter sent to Serbia in 2024, regarding the Government’s decision to remove historic buildings in Belgrade from the list of protected cultural monuments, on allegedly unlawful grounds and without an appropriate consultative process, the subsequent, ongoing destruction of these sites for the construction of private commercial buildings, and repression against those protecting the sites.35 In December 2025, she issued a press release welcoming the withdrawal of a project that would have involved the destruction of the Generalštab complex and called upon the Government of Serbia to urgently reinstate the complex’s protected status.36 B. Country visits 12. Due to the budget and liquidity crisis at the United Nations, the Special Rapporteur conducted only one country visit in 2025, to the Federated States of Micronesia. 37 C. Cooperation with United Nations entities and technical assistance activities 13. In 2025, the Special Rapporteur continued her engagement with United Nations agencies, treaty bodies and special procedures on issues relating to her mandate. In particular, she continued to engage with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Inter-Agency Platform on Culture for Sustainable Development; participated in a general discussion organized by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on gender stereotypes; met with the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and contributed her expertise towards the preparation of a new general comment on economic, social and cultural rights in armed conflict; participated in events and discussions organized by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel; collaborated with the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development regarding the issue of artificial intelligence and cultural rights for development and with the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context, on the elaboration of the Guiding Principles on Resettlement; and participated as a member of the advisory board for the UNESCO global report on cultural policies. She also contributed her expertise to the statutory meeting of the States Parties to the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. She collaborated with the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property on the potential of heritage collections and collections-based organizations for sustainable development. 14. The Special Rapporteur participated in the World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development (MONDIACULT) organized by UNESCO in Barcelona, Spain, on sustainable development and cultural policies, as well as in the preceding Àgora Cívica, organized with the support of the Spanish national and local authorities as a space for civil society. She stressed the importance of a cultural rights-based approach to development. 33 34 35 36 37 GE.26-01310 See communication BRA 2/2025. See communications USA 35/2025 and MHL 1/2025. See communication SRB 4/2024. See www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/12/un-expert-welcomes-halt-divisive-belgrade-projecturges-serbia-protect. See A/HRC/61/49/Add.2. 5