OHCHR and the right to development

Issues in focus

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OHCHR and the right to development

Issues in focus

Activities, events and reports

The United Nations, through the OHCHR and human rights mechanisms is undertaking the following activities as part of the Human Rights Council's mandates on the contribution of development to the enjoyment of human rights:

5 regional Seminars on the contribution of development to the enjoyment of all human rights. September 2022 – February 2023

On 12 July 2021, the Human Rights Council (HRC) adopted resolution 47/11 on “The contribution of development to the enjoyment of all human rights”. In this resolution, the Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to organize a series of regional seminars, one for each of the five geographical regions, in order to allow Member States, relevant United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, international and regional organizations, national human rights institutions, civil society organizations and other stakeholders to identify challenges and gaps and share good practices and experiences in this regard.”

The topics of specific panels are inspired by the various provisions of resolutions 35/21, 41/19 and 47/11, including the importance of States  promoting sustainable development to enable better enjoyment of human rights, to achieve gender equality and to promote equality of opportunity for development. The implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals will be a crosscutting topic throughout all sessions, including, but not limited to, SDG 1 on no poverty, SDG 8 on decent work and economic growth, and SDG 10 on reduced inequalities.

OHCHR plans to organize these seminars during the period of September 2022 to February 2023.

To launch the series, the first seminar will take place in Geneva, Switzerland on 1-2 September. Due to the COVID-19 situation, some of these meetings will be hybrid. Further details will be communicated in advance of each of the seminars.

One-day intersessional seminar on the contribution of development to the enjoyment of all human rights

The seminar was held on 28 May 2021, from 11:00 to 13:00 and from 15:00 to 17:00 (Geneva Time – CEST).

The opening of the seminar included statements by the President of the Human Rights Council, the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Permanent Representative of the People's Republic of China. The seminar also include two panels:

  • Panel I: General perspectives on the contribution of development to the enjoyment of all human rights (morning panel). Video recordings available in original, English, Chinese.
  • Panel II: The contribution of development to the enjoyment of human rights in the Decade of Action and in recovering better from COVID-19 (afternoon panel). Video recordings available in original, English, Chinese.

In its resolution 41/19 on the contribution of development to the enjoyment of all human rights, the Human Rights Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to organize a one-day intersessional seminar, before the forty-seventh session of the Human Rights Council, on the contribution of development to the enjoyment of all human rights, in order to allow Member States, relevant United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, international organizations, national human rights institutions, civil society organizations and other stakeholders to identify challenges and gaps and share good practices and experiences in this regard. In its decision 45/113, the Council decided that the intersessional seminar would be held before the forty-eighth session according to the new timeline for of implementation of resolution 41/19.

Studies on the role of development in the enjoyment of human rights to strengthen OHCHR's work on sustainable development

At its forty-first session in July 2019, the Human Rights Council adopted resolution 41/19, in which it invited the OHCHR to strengthen its work relevant to sustainable development, including studies on the role of development in the enjoyment of human rights. Pursuant to this invitation, the OHCHR commissioned two studies on the contribution of development to the enjoyment of human rights.

1st OHCHR Study: Contribution of development to the enjoyment of all human rights, by Mr. WANG Xigen (English)

Inputs to this study by:

States:

International Organizations:

  • European Union (English)
  • International Telecommunication Union (ITU) (English)
  • United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (English)
  • World Trade Organization (WTO)

Human Rights Mechanisms Mandate Holders:

  • Ms. Nicole Ameline, member of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) (English)
  • Ms. Alena Douhan, Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights (English)
  • Mr. Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights (English)
    • Attachment 1: Report of the Special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier De Schutter, The “just transition” in the economic recovery: eradicating poverty within planetary boundaries, 7 October 2020, (A/75/181/REV.1)
    • Attachment 2: A response submitted by the previous Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston to the Advisory Committee, pursuant to a Human Rights Council resolution 35/21 on “the contribution of development to the enjoyment of all human rights” (30 May 2018) (English)

Civil society and national human rights institutions:

  • Action on Smoking and Health +18 organizations (English)
  • Azerbaijani Ombudsman (English)
  • Conseil Suisse des Activités de Jeunesse (Français)
  • En Vero (Canadian Association for Rights and Truth) (English)
  • Equal Rights Trust (English)
  • Fundación Abba Colombia (Español)
  • The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Center for Economic and Social Rights, ATD Fourth World, Franciscans International (joint submission originally presented to the Advisory Committee of the Human Rights Council in 2018) (English)
  • International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (English)
  • Opción por los derechos de niñas y niños (Español)
  • United Nations Association of China (UNA-China) (English)
  • Voluntariato Internazionale per lo Sviluppo (VIS) (English)

2nd OHCHR Study: The contribution of development of digital connectivity to the enjoyment of human rights in least developed countries, Ms. Berhan Taye (forthcoming)

Study of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee on the contribution of development to the enjoyment of human rights

At its thirty-fifth session in June 2017, the Human Rights Council adopted resolution 35/21, in which it requested the Advisory Committee to conduct a study on the ways in which development contributes to the enjoyment of all human rights by all, in particular on best experiences and practices, and to submit the report to the Council before its forty-first session.

Read the Study of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee on the contribution of development to the enjoyment of human rights (A/HRC/41/50).

Easy to read version in English.

More information at the Advisory Committee's page.

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