Welcome to the United Nations 
OHCHR 
Statements Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Default title
04 November 1999
Share
G-77 and NAM, New York, 4 November 1999
Statement by Mary Robinson
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,
to the G-77 and NAM
Distinguished Chairmen and delegates,
This is the first time that I have addressed your two groups together and I am very grateful for the opportunity to share with you my Office's work in the area of economic, social and cultural rights and the right to development.
In 1993, the World Conference on Human Rights affirmed that all human rights, civil, cultural, economic, political and social, are interlinked and interdependent. With the benefit of 50 years of experience, it has become clearer that all human rights need to be respected with the same degree of affirmation and conviction - freedom of speech and belief as well as freedom from fear and want; fair trial and the right of participatory and representative government side by side with the rights to work, to health protection, and to education.
Some progress has been made both at the international and national levels in reinforcing the founding vision of the drafters of the Universal Declaration. Article 22, for instance, proclaims: "Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international cooperation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality".
Yet, despite examples of progress, it remains painfully clear that the fundamental rights to decent living conditions, food, basic health care and education - all laid down in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, - are widely denied. The 1999 State of the World's Children report of the UNICEF warns that nearly a billion people, a sixth of humanity, are functionally illiterate and will enter the twenty-first century unable to read a book or sign their names. Two-thirds of them are female.
Another area of urgency is the eradication of extreme poverty. The latest report of the World Bank illustrates the way the recent financial and economic crisis had driven large sections of populations into extreme poverty - measured by the World Bank as income of less than US$ 1 per day. The victims of poverty are in fact denied almost all human rights - not only to adequate food, health care and housing, but also to participation in political processes; access to information and education; fair legal treatment and the normal benefits of citizenship.
The globalization of markets, capital, communication and technology has changed the face of the world, opening new opportunities and creating new challenges. While the benefits of these transformations are undeniable for millions of people in all regions, it is also undeniable that still larger numbers of the world's population are being pushed to the margins of society, economically and socially, in part because of this complex process.
Making economic, social and cultural rights a reality remains a formidable challenge. At the dawn of a new century, violations of these rights must be seen as a continuing affront to human dignity. Equally important, their implementation must be understood as an essential part of building an international economic and social order based on human security, freedom and equality.
The imperative to convert rhetoric into action is a feature of the human rights debate generally. It is particularly acute in the case of the right to development. No other right has been the subject of such intense debate. It was not until relatively late - in 1986 - that the right to development was formally adopted by the United Nations.
Notwithstanding repeated affirmations by the governments of the world, there remains more of a mystique around the right to development than around other rights. It is a topic that arouses strong passions.
Anyone seeking to understand what the right to development means need look no further than the text of the 1986 Declaration. It is a document which bears close reading and, in some ways, it was ahead of its time. For example, it places clear emphasis on the human person as the central subject of the development process and urges that development policy should make "the human being the main participant and beneficiary of development". The Declaration makes the important point that all human rights and fundamental freedoms are indivisible and interdependent. It calls for equal attention and urgent consideration to be given to the implementation, promotion and protection of all rights - civil, cultural, economic political and social. I have made no secret of my belief that we must step up our efforts to secure economic, social and cultural rights and to redress what I see as an imbalance in emphasis vis-a-vis civil and political rights over the years. In my view, you cannot talk about realising full human rights unless all possible attention is focussed on securing economic, social and cultural rights.
It is worth saying what the right to development ought not to be. It ought not to be seen as mere rhetoric, fine words offered as a sop to the poorest countries but not honoured in practice. That would be a flagrant breach, not only of faith, but of international legal obligations which all countries have signed up to. Neither should the right to development be used as a threat to the resource-rich countries. At the same time, there is every justification for scrutinising the performance of resource-rich countries in meeting their obligations to realise the right to development, just as there is a need to examine the record of all States in carrying out what they have undertaken. Finally, there should be no trade-offs between States' efforts to realise development goals and the securing of all the other rights incorporated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That argument, thankfully, is heard less often these days but the idea still persists in some quarters. The most eloquent answer that can be given is the work of Amartya Sen, the Nobel Prize winner for Economics in 1998, where he shows the close interrelationship between democracy, rights-based societies and development.
Implementing the right to development is the challenge we face. And we must bear in mind that the context of this issue has changed greatly over the past decade. There have been dramatic alterations in the geo-political landscape with the ending of superpower rivalry and the emergence of numerous new States. There has been a fundamental shift in attitudes towards human rights, too, with a growing recognition of the fundamental dignity of the human person and the centrality of human rights to all of the issues of global governance: humanitarian affairs, peace and security, economic and social affairs and above all, development.
There is good news in the area of inter-agency activity in promoting a rights-based approach to development. My Office is taking a number of measures in fulfilment of my mandate to act as a catalyst in ensuring that the full range of human rights is implemented.
- OHCHR is preparing to participate in the pilot phase of the World Bank's Comprehensive Development Framework which I mentioned earlier and in particular in those sectors of the matrix which cover human rights, such as good governance, the justice system, social safety nets, education and health.
- We are working closely with members of the United Nations Development Group on the UN Development Assistance Framework and the Common Country Assessment. Among the ways in which we have contributed is to provide input to the CCA Indicator Framework which is designed to focus attention on important development issues and conditions of a country.
- OHCHR organised its own workshop on the right to development last May to exchange views and to provide support for the work of the Independent Expert on the right to development.
- Cooperation with UNDP has been especially close. Since 1998, OHCHR and UNDP have been formulating a joint programme for human rights strengthening, known as HURIST. This programme, which was signed last April, provides for a series of specific actions, including pilot projects in five countries, the organisation of regional and sub-regional workshops, a seminar on globalisation and OHCHR support for UNDP country office projects. The common aim is to operationalise the commitment to human rights contained in UNDP's policy paper on "Integrating Human Rights with Sustainable Human Development".
- Lastly, I would remind that the Human Development Report for the year 2000 will have human rights as its theme and we have had preliminary discussions with UNDP about that.
Distinguished Chairmen and delegates,
Much work remains ahead of us. Over the past 50 years we have successfully elaborated human rights norms and objectives. But I believe firmly that, as this century draws to a close, we can and must do more for economic, social and cultural rights and the right to development.
I thank you.
Statement by Mary Robinson
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,
to the G-77 and NAM
Distinguished Chairmen and delegates,
This is the first time that I have addressed your two groups together and I am very grateful for the opportunity to share with you my Office's work in the area of economic, social and cultural rights and the right to development.
In 1993, the World Conference on Human Rights affirmed that all human rights, civil, cultural, economic, political and social, are interlinked and interdependent. With the benefit of 50 years of experience, it has become clearer that all human rights need to be respected with the same degree of affirmation and conviction - freedom of speech and belief as well as freedom from fear and want; fair trial and the right of participatory and representative government side by side with the rights to work, to health protection, and to education.
Some progress has been made both at the international and national levels in reinforcing the founding vision of the drafters of the Universal Declaration. Article 22, for instance, proclaims: "Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international cooperation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality".
Yet, despite examples of progress, it remains painfully clear that the fundamental rights to decent living conditions, food, basic health care and education - all laid down in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, - are widely denied. The 1999 State of the World's Children report of the UNICEF warns that nearly a billion people, a sixth of humanity, are functionally illiterate and will enter the twenty-first century unable to read a book or sign their names. Two-thirds of them are female.
Another area of urgency is the eradication of extreme poverty. The latest report of the World Bank illustrates the way the recent financial and economic crisis had driven large sections of populations into extreme poverty - measured by the World Bank as income of less than US$ 1 per day. The victims of poverty are in fact denied almost all human rights - not only to adequate food, health care and housing, but also to participation in political processes; access to information and education; fair legal treatment and the normal benefits of citizenship.
The globalization of markets, capital, communication and technology has changed the face of the world, opening new opportunities and creating new challenges. While the benefits of these transformations are undeniable for millions of people in all regions, it is also undeniable that still larger numbers of the world's population are being pushed to the margins of society, economically and socially, in part because of this complex process.
Making economic, social and cultural rights a reality remains a formidable challenge. At the dawn of a new century, violations of these rights must be seen as a continuing affront to human dignity. Equally important, their implementation must be understood as an essential part of building an international economic and social order based on human security, freedom and equality.
The imperative to convert rhetoric into action is a feature of the human rights debate generally. It is particularly acute in the case of the right to development. No other right has been the subject of such intense debate. It was not until relatively late - in 1986 - that the right to development was formally adopted by the United Nations.
Notwithstanding repeated affirmations by the governments of the world, there remains more of a mystique around the right to development than around other rights. It is a topic that arouses strong passions.
Anyone seeking to understand what the right to development means need look no further than the text of the 1986 Declaration. It is a document which bears close reading and, in some ways, it was ahead of its time. For example, it places clear emphasis on the human person as the central subject of the development process and urges that development policy should make "the human being the main participant and beneficiary of development". The Declaration makes the important point that all human rights and fundamental freedoms are indivisible and interdependent. It calls for equal attention and urgent consideration to be given to the implementation, promotion and protection of all rights - civil, cultural, economic political and social. I have made no secret of my belief that we must step up our efforts to secure economic, social and cultural rights and to redress what I see as an imbalance in emphasis vis-a-vis civil and political rights over the years. In my view, you cannot talk about realising full human rights unless all possible attention is focussed on securing economic, social and cultural rights.
It is worth saying what the right to development ought not to be. It ought not to be seen as mere rhetoric, fine words offered as a sop to the poorest countries but not honoured in practice. That would be a flagrant breach, not only of faith, but of international legal obligations which all countries have signed up to. Neither should the right to development be used as a threat to the resource-rich countries. At the same time, there is every justification for scrutinising the performance of resource-rich countries in meeting their obligations to realise the right to development, just as there is a need to examine the record of all States in carrying out what they have undertaken. Finally, there should be no trade-offs between States' efforts to realise development goals and the securing of all the other rights incorporated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That argument, thankfully, is heard less often these days but the idea still persists in some quarters. The most eloquent answer that can be given is the work of Amartya Sen, the Nobel Prize winner for Economics in 1998, where he shows the close interrelationship between democracy, rights-based societies and development.
Implementing the right to development is the challenge we face. And we must bear in mind that the context of this issue has changed greatly over the past decade. There have been dramatic alterations in the geo-political landscape with the ending of superpower rivalry and the emergence of numerous new States. There has been a fundamental shift in attitudes towards human rights, too, with a growing recognition of the fundamental dignity of the human person and the centrality of human rights to all of the issues of global governance: humanitarian affairs, peace and security, economic and social affairs and above all, development.
There is good news in the area of inter-agency activity in promoting a rights-based approach to development. My Office is taking a number of measures in fulfilment of my mandate to act as a catalyst in ensuring that the full range of human rights is implemented.
- OHCHR is preparing to participate in the pilot phase of the World Bank's Comprehensive Development Framework which I mentioned earlier and in particular in those sectors of the matrix which cover human rights, such as good governance, the justice system, social safety nets, education and health.
- We are working closely with members of the United Nations Development Group on the UN Development Assistance Framework and the Common Country Assessment. Among the ways in which we have contributed is to provide input to the CCA Indicator Framework which is designed to focus attention on important development issues and conditions of a country.
- OHCHR organised its own workshop on the right to development last May to exchange views and to provide support for the work of the Independent Expert on the right to development.
- Cooperation with UNDP has been especially close. Since 1998, OHCHR and UNDP have been formulating a joint programme for human rights strengthening, known as HURIST. This programme, which was signed last April, provides for a series of specific actions, including pilot projects in five countries, the organisation of regional and sub-regional workshops, a seminar on globalisation and OHCHR support for UNDP country office projects. The common aim is to operationalise the commitment to human rights contained in UNDP's policy paper on "Integrating Human Rights with Sustainable Human Development".
- Lastly, I would remind that the Human Development Report for the year 2000 will have human rights as its theme and we have had preliminary discussions with UNDP about that.
Distinguished Chairmen and delegates,
Much work remains ahead of us. Over the past 50 years we have successfully elaborated human rights norms and objectives. But I believe firmly that, as this century draws to a close, we can and must do more for economic, social and cultural rights and the right to development.
I thank you.