International cooperation and solidarity

The right to development is underscored by international solidarity and the duty to cooperate, and the human rights principles of equality and non-discrimination, participation, accountability and transparency at both the national and international levels.

The Right to Development and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

The effective implementation of all human rights requires international solidarity and cooperation, global partnership for development, policy coherence, coordination and integrated approaches at all levels. It requires the international community to act together with unity and renewed multilateralism to create an enabling global environment free of structural obstacles, wherein all individuals, peoples and nations have opportunities for inclusive, equitable and sustainable development.

The United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development offers hope to the millions of people around the world who face the daily realities of poverty and inequalities. The aspiration to make the right to development a reality for all in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs 2000-2015), also informs the contemporary global development policy framework – the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 2015-2030).

Reinforcing solidarity in the 2030 Agenda

Together with People, Planet, Prosperity and Peace, Partnership is key to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Agenda reaffirms that ‘We are determined to mobilize the means required to implement this Agenda through a revitalised Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, based on a spirit of strengthened global solidarity, focused in particular on the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable and with the participation of all countries, all stakeholders and all people’.

To this end, Goal 17 aims to ‘Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development’. SDG 17 includes targets on Finance, Technology, Capacity-Building, Trade and Systemic Issues.

South-South Cooperation

Draft Study_Good Practices in Operationalizing the Right to Development in South-South Cooperation

Resources

Implementation and enhancement of international cooperation in the field of human rights, report of the United nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, (2023) A/HRC/53/46

The present report sets out the work of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the implementation and enhancement of international cooperation in the field of human rights on the threshold of the seventy-fifth and thirtieth anniversaries of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, respectively, and against the backdrop of Our Common Agenda and the Secretary-General’s Call to Action for Human Rights. In proposing possible ways to face the challenges to the promotion and protection of human rights, including the right to development, the report highlights the need to rekindle the spirit of those instruments to strengthen international cooperation in the context of Our Common Agenda and the Summit of the Future to create mutually reinforcing and foundational policy pathways to transformative change.

Implementation and enhancement of international cooperation in the field of human rights, Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, (2022) A/HRC/50/51

The present report reflects the work of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the implementation and enhancement of international cooperation in the field of human rights, illustrating how OHCHR contributes to enhancing human rights protection and development.

Proposing possible ways to face the challenges to the promotion and protection of human rights, including the right to development, it also considers how OHCHR may further contribute to realizing Our Common Agenda and the Call to Action for Human Rights of the Secretary-General.

Promoting mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of human rights — Meeting on the role of poverty alleviation in promoting and protecting human rights, (2022) A/HRC/49/30

The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 43/21. It contains a summary of the meeting on the role of poverty alleviation in promoting and protecting human rights, held on 26 February 2021, at the forty-sixth session of the Council

Greater global solidarity for human rights including the right to development

Implementation and enhancement of international cooperation in the field of human rights, Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, (2021) A/HRC/47/47 

Against the backdrop of one of the biggest global crises the world has seen since the founding of the United Nations, the present report contains an overview of the work of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in implementing and enhancing international cooperation in the field of human rights, in view of the Secretary-General’s profound reflection process on the future of more networked, inclusive and effective multilateralism.  

Strengthening United Nations action in the field of human rights through the promotion of international cooperation and the importance of non-selectivity, impartiality and objectivity, Report of the Secretary-General, (2021) A/76/249

The present report includes practical proposals and ideas on how to strengthen United Nations action in the field of human rights through the promotion of international cooperation, drawing on relevant inputs from Member States, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations. It highlights the need for greater solidarity between peoples, nations and generations rooted in the inalienable rights of every human person, including in response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which has exposed and exacerbated existing inequalities and related gaps in the provision of basic human rights.

Implementation and enhancement of international cooperation in the field of human rights, Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, (2020) A/HRC/44/28

Against the backdrop of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the present report appeals to the international community to renew its collective commitment to act on multilateral solutions to global problems, international solidarity and cooperation, as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.

Strengthening United Nations action in the field of human rights through the promotion of international cooperation and the importance of non-selectivity, impartiality and objectivity, Report of the Secretary-General, (2019) A/74/351

This report provides an overview of relevant normative and policy frameworks and new and emerging opportunities and efforts that may strengthen United Nations action in the field of human rights through the promotion of international cooperation, and the principles of non-selectivity, impartiality and objectivity. It highlights activities of the United Nations system, in particular OHCHR, and draws on contributions from Member States, to provide practical proposals and ideas.

Implementation and enhancement of international cooperation in the field of human rights, Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, (2019) A/HRC/41/25

Taking into account the opportunities for advancing human rights provided by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the reform process of the United Nations, this report takes the Universal Periodic Review as a key entry point for integrating human rights into development efforts while enhancing cooperative endeavours at the national level by Member States, the United Nations and the wider international community on the implementation of recommendations from all human rights mechanisms.

ECOSOC special event on the right to development and global partnership for development

On 12 July 2011, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) organised a special event on the right to development and global partnership for development in commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Right to Development (click here for background information on the event)

• Concept note
• Statement by the High Commissioner for Human Rights
• Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Mr. Sha Zukang
• H.E. Ms. Laura Dupuy Lasserre, the President of the Human Rights Council
• Professor Henry Shue, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for International Studies