STATEMENT OF BERTRAND RAMCHARAN ACTING HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS PRESENTING THE REPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS TO THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL

23 July 2003

Mr President, Distinguished Members of the Economic and Social Council, ladies and gentlemen,

The history of the United Nations has offered us one important lesson: we cannot achieve peace or development without respect for human rights, economic, social and cultural, and civil and political. Respect for human rights is essential for the prevention of conflicts, for development, for peacemaking, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding. Equity and order require the rule of law, democracy and scrupulous observance of international standards on human rights.

The times in which we live tell us that human rights are, and must be, the normative anchors of economic and social cooperation and of a globalising world economy. It surely must be right to insist on the simple but powerful proposition that the aim of international economic and social cooperation, the aim of governance, is to uphold the core international human rights guarantees. Without sight of the human rights dimension the rest will ring hollow.

In the Charter's vision of a world of peace and justice grounded in respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and in economic and social progress there is a central role for this Economic and Social Council. In the words of learned commentators on the Charter, Goodrich, Hambro and Simons, "Article 55 has a central place in the total scheme of the Charter for promoting economic and social cooperation and respect for human rights."

With a view to the creation of conditions of stability and well-being necessary for peaceful and friendly relations among Nations, Chapter IX of the Charter on International Economic and Social Cooperation requires the United Nations to promote "universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion." (Article 55 (c) By article 56 all Members pledge to take joint and separate action in cooperation with the Organization for the achievement of the purposes set forth in Article 55.

The solution of international economic, social, health and related problems; the achievement of higher standards of living, full employment and economic and social progress and development thus go together with universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. This is why I appear before you today : with a call to human rights.

Article 62 of the Charter entrusts this Economic and Social Council with the competence to make recommendations for the purpose of promoting respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all : not for some, not for a few, but for all. We need to remember this. We need to recall also that Article 22 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights entrusts important functions to this Council.

The role of the Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is to help promote and protect all human rights, economic, social and cultural and civil and political. The Office does this by seeking to contribute to the efforts of the principal organs of the United Nations.

The report which I have the honour of presenting to you today, provides information on developments in the human rights area that are likely to be of particular interest to the Council. Taking into account the mandate of the Council, the report concentrates on the human rights dimension of work on the millennium development goals; poverty reduction; health; HIV/AIDS; education; food; housing; disability; trafficking in persons; and globalization and trade.

In each of these areas we ask you to bear in mind key human rights aspects:

I. Millennium Development Goals

I would like to draw your attention to the general comments by human rights treaty bodies on the right to adequate food; the right to the highest attainable standard of health; primary education; housing; women and health; and gender-related dimensions of racial discrimination. Would it not be useful for your work that, at a future session,you review these general comments with a view to taking them into account in your efforts to promote international economic and social cooperation in the spirit of Article 55 of the Charter?

II. Poverty Reduction

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has recently adopted a statement which defines poverty, for the first time, from a human rights perspective: "a human condition characterized by sustained chronic deprivation of the resources, capabilities, choices, security and power necessary for the enjoyment of an adequate standard of living and other civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights." How will this definition feature in your work and deliberations?

III. Health

Key elements of a human rights approach to health include a focus on human dignity; addressing the situation of vulnerable groups and the root causes of vulnerability; addressing gender inequalities; ensuring non-discrimination and equality in access to health care, goods and services; encouraging the participation of beneficiaries in decision-making processes; making explicit linkages to human rights norms and standards; articulating Governments' obligations and identifying benchmarks and indicators for measuring the implementation of such obligations. This approach also involves using human rights as a framework for assessing and addressing the human rights implications of health-
related policies,programmes and legislation, as well as for assessing the overall performance of Governments. Can, and should, these insights influence this Council in its work?

IV. HIV/AIDS

People affected by HIV/AIDS are not only confronted with the physical and mental effects of the illness, but are often also vulnerable to discrimination in relation to health services, eduction, work and family life. This worsens the impact of the disease. At the same time, lack of respect for human rights in general makes certain people more vulnerable to HIV infection and to the social and economic effects of the disease. In particular, gender inequalities add to the spread of the epidemic and its disproportionate impact on women. On the other hand, safeguarding human rights contributes to reducing vulnerability to HIV infection and alleviating the negative impact of the epidemic. Is there room for this Council to foster a human rights approach to tackling the problem?

V. Education

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has described education as an 'empowerment right'. It is an essential factor in sustainable development and also 'the primary vehicle by which economically and socially marginalized adults and children can lift themselves out of poverty and obtain the means to participate fully in their communities. Applying a human rights approach to achieving universal primary education, the second millennium development goal, would require incorporating guarantees and positive actions with respect to education in development strategies in order to ensure non-discrimination and equal enjoyment of the right to education. How can insights such as these guide the Council in its future work.

VI. Food.

The right to adequate food, recognized in several international instruments, has been reaffirmed in the final documents of the two World Food Summits in 1996 and 2002. It requires that every person have physical and economic access at all times to adequate food or to the means for its procurement. The implementation of the right to food requires action not only in the food sector or in food-related sectors, but also in areas such as health, nutritional education, sanitary facilitate and infrastructure, among others. The right to food perspective in achieving food security seeks to empower the poor and hungry so as to make reality of the principles of participation, accountability and transparency, which are necessary to ensure sustainable access to food for all. In this, above all other areas, the human rights approach must be pre-eminent in international economic and social cooperation as well as in strategies of governance.

VII. Housing

In 2002, OHCHR and UN-Habitat established the joint United Nations Housing Rights Programme which has five areas of focus: (a) advocacy, outreach and learning from partners; (b) support for United Nations human rights mechanisms on housing rights; (c) monitoring and evaluation of the progress of realization of housing rights; (d) research and analysis on issues relating to housing rights; and (e) capacity-building and training for the monitoring and implementation of housing rights. An important objective of the Programme is to encourage further development of rights-based approaches in housing and human settlements. This is an approach that we hope will commend itself to this Council.

VIII. Disability

Over 600 million persons - approximately 10 percent of the world's population - summer from some type of disability. Over two-thirds of them live in developing countries. In the last two decades, the approach to persons with disabilities has changed and they have started to be viewed as holders of rights.Four core values of human rights law are of particular importance: (a) the dignity of each individual; (b) the concept of autonomy or self-determination; (c) the inherent equality of all regardless of difference; (d) the ethic of solidarity, which requires society to sustain the freedom of the person with appropriate social support. We would like to commend this approach to the Council.

IX. Trafficking in Persons

Human trafficking is one of the most serious challenges on the international human rights agenda today. It represents the denial of the right to liberty and security of person; the right to freedom from torture,violence, cruelty or degrading treatment; the right to freedom of movement; the right to protection of the family; the rights to education, health and education - everything that makes for a life with dignity. Despite its overwhelming human rights dimensions, trafficking continues to be addressed as a 'law and order' problem. We would seek your help to change this.

X. Globalization and trade

By linking the norms and standards of international human rights law to the processes of globalization and trade liberalization, a human rights approach seeks to place the human rights of individuals and groups at the heart of economic processes so that globalization and trade can benefit all. A key response to globalization and trade is to strengthen the international human rights machinery, to improve linkages between human rights bodies and those dealing with trade and globalization issues, and to ensure international cooperation and assistance to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms, and thus human development. We urge this approach upon you.
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To conclude, the links between social, economic and other spheres of the lives of individuals and society find their reflection in the holistic concept of human rights, reiterated in the Vienna Declaration ad Programme of action, which stated: "All human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated. The international community must treat human rights globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing, and with the same emphasis."* The United Nations human rights programme is based on and implements this concept. We are confident the Economic and Social Council would wish to do so as well.

Thank you.