Human rights can help ensure no one is left behind, says ASG Brands Kehris at SDG Action Weekend

Dear Deputy Secretary-General, Ambassador Mythen, Excellencies

Major Groups co-chairs,

Colleagues and friends.

We heard time and again at the High-level political forum that we find ourselves behind at halftime, unable to break through to a better world.

I am grateful for the invitation to discuss how to move from commitments to achievements.

How to create a world which prioritizes people and countries furthest behind.

A world envisioned in the 2030 Agenda and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - where every person can live free and equal in dignity and rights.

Indeed, halfway to our collective 2030 deadline too many targets are moving away from reach. The legacies of colonialism and patriarchy; structural inequalities and power imbalances are preventing millions of people and scores of countries from reaching their full potential.

But my main message today is that we know how to change this. In fact, we have an entire toolbox of solutions at our disposal.

Human rights are a key part of that toolbox. They can help solve the most pressing challenges before us, including ensuring no one is left behind.

To achieve this, we must reach all those we have failed.

All people, communities, peoples, and nations failed by policies and actions that serve the few at the expense of the many, that prioritize profits over people, that force countries to pay back loans rather than feed, educate and empower their people.

Unprecedented levels of inequality pose a historic challenge to human rights, development, and stability.

But inequality is not inevitable. It is man-made, and we can eliminate it.

We can do this by reforming the rules of the political and economic systems that not only allow but cause skyrocketing inequalities.

This is no easy task.

But it is a task we can accomplish by ensuring human rights guide policymaking across all dimensions of sustainable development.

Allow me to highlight three critical transformative actions.

First, reclaim the pledge to leave no one behind.

We cannot allow it to be used as an empty slogan or seen as a mere suggestion States can renege on. It is a policy instruction agreed to by all States on what action must be prioritized and adequately resourced.

Seen through the lens of international human rights norms, delivering on this pledge is in fact an obligation to deliver on non-discrimination and equality, not a matter of good will or charity.

And, most importantly, solutions need to focus not only on those worst off, but also on the most privileged and the society as a whole.

Efforts to leave no one behind must go hand in hand with reforming the system that allows for exorbitant concentration of wealth and power by the richest one per cent. When the elites can capture nearly two-thirds of all newly created wealth since 2020, as reported by Oxfam, while millions are pushed further into poverty, this is a symptom of a broken system and it is an alarm bell we cannot ignore.

Optimizing how we collect and leverage disaggregated data is also critical to efforts to leave no one behind. It allows us to accurately capture the lived realities of marginalized groups and demonstrate the disparities within and among countries. Human rights-based approach to data ensures those previously invisible to policymakers become not only visible, but central to designing transformative interventions that lift up those furthest behind.

Second, rally behind economies that enhance human rights.

We need economies that deliver for the people and planet. Applying human rights to economic policymaking will direct investment into addressing barriers to equality. It will build in maximum space for social dialogue, seek to eradicate corruption, and ensure business operations do no harm.

Globally, using human rights as guardrails when reforming the international financial architecture will make it more just, representative, and better fit for purpose. It will prevent scenarios where governments are forced to undercut investments in rights to repay their foreign debt.

Secretary-General's SDG Stimulus proposal is urgent, as are the on-going discussions on reinforcing international tax cooperation. When multinational businesses and wealthy individuals shift their profits to low- or no-tax jurisdictions, this directly undercuts countries’ ability to invest in human rights, to invest in its people.

Third, embrace active and meaningful participation as a driver of sustainable development.

The right to development is clear - every person and all peoples are entitled to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural, and political development, in which all human rights can be fully realized.

This vision informed the drafting of the 2030 Agenda, yet we see alarming shrinking of civic space world-wide.

We need to mobilize and demand rights-based and participatory solutions, and those of us fortunate enough to engage in these meetings need to work to safeguard and expand space for marginalized voices that would otherwise not be heard.

If we fail, the 2030 Agenda may go down in history as a tragic monument to our failure to eradicate extreme poverty and realize human rights.

But if we succeed, if we act with unity of purpose and push through the barriers, it will be a win for us and for the generations that will follow.

Let’s use the momentum of the SDG Summit to create a legacy we can be proud of – one reflective of the vision embedded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 75^th years ago: All people living free from fear and want, able to enjoy the full range of human rights.

I look forward to hearing concrete proposals and recommendations, and I thank you.