The Fifth Session of the EMRTD Opening Statement by Ms. Ilze Brands Kehris, ASG for Human Rights

Dear Experts
Distinguished Delegates,
Colleagues and Friends,

It is a pleasure to welcome you to the fifth session of the Expert Mechanism on the Right Development which is being held in New York for the second time and virtually.

In setting up his priorities for 2022, the Secretary General has raised alarm over five interlinked crises: the raging COVID-19 pandemic, the morally bankrupt global financial system, the climate crisis, the situation of lawless in cyberspace, and the weakened peace and security worldwide. 

Indeed, two years into the pandemic, with a financial system that is failing most of humanity, we are seeing massive and further deepening inequalities within and between developed and developing countries leading to setbacks in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. We have also been increasingly experiencing the impact of climate change.

Against this background, the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights have repeatedly stressed that the virus cannot be used as “cover” to undermine human rights, including the right to development and the right to a clean and healthy environment. It cannot be used either to curtail civil space and freedoms or impose disproportionate restrictions. They have both appealed to world leaders to take urgent and decisive collective action. They have warned that the stakes could not be higher and that the welfare and very future of humanity depend on solidarity and working together to achieve common goals.

Last December marked the 35th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development. By entitling people “to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development,” the right to development encompasses core rights such as the rights to food, water, clothing and housing, to work, education, health, life and the freedoms of expression and assembly. All are critical steppingstones towards the realization of the right to a decent standard of living.

The right to development translates into three levels of obligations of States: internally, through national development policies within their jurisdictions; internationally, through policies beyond their jurisdictions; and collectively, through global and regional partnerships. In the current context, 35 years after the adoption of the Declaration, we see how critical each of these obligations is to make progress on human rights.

Our cooperation and solidarity among people and nations are defining our future. International cooperation is not only essential for the realization of the right to development, but for overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic, for addressing the financial crisis with cascade effects from country to country, for putting on track the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, and for stepping up climate action.

This Expert Mechanism has an important mandate to strengthen thematic expertise, promote good practices and support Member States in the effective implementation of the right to development worldwide. We welcome that the Expert Mechanism is working closely with the other two existing mechanisms on the right to development: the Intergovernmental Working Group, which is currently discussing the draft convention on the right to development, and the Special Rapporteur, whose mandate was created with a focus on the protection and fulfilment of this right, to explore synergies and strive for coherence.

We firmly believe that the Expert Mechanism can play an important role in building an evidence-based thematic foundation to ensure that the right to development is applied as a lens to elaborate on core elements of Our Common Agenda, including the renewal of a social contract at the national level, and a new global deal at the international level.

I wish you all fruitful discussions and a successful outcome. Thank you.