Summary

This is the second of two consecutive reports to the General Assembly presented by the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Alexandra Xanthaki, addressing cultural rights in development frameworks. The Special Rapporteur emphasizes that international development and trade organizations are currently failing to respect cultural rights. The reasons she analyses include the rejection by some organizations of their responsibility to respect cultural rights, the lack of understanding of their scope and their linkage with the work of the organizations, and the predominance given to economic development or other interests. Although the Special Rapporteur acknowledges some progress, full implementation of these rights is still lacking. All entities need to work in a comprehensive and inclusive manner to ensure that cultural rights are not violated in development and trade frameworks, and that clear processes advance cultural rights in development, mitigate and prevent their violations, and guarantee effective participation and consultation according to international standards. States have an important role to play in ensuring that the organizations of which they are members endorse cultural development and respect cultural rights in all aspects of their work, so that truly no one is left behind.