Background

In its resolution 53/28^[1], the Human Rights Council invited the Office of High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) to “prepare a compilation of best practices in the contribution of development to the promotion and protection of all human rights in the context of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.” The resolution also encourages OHCHR “to reinforce its work and initiatives on fighting poverty and addressing inequalities in the context of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.”

The onset of the pandemic worsened several underlying issues.  Progress on sustainable development goals 1 on ending poverty and 10 on reducing inequalities within and among countries was particularly affected. In the aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people living in severe poverty increased, for the first time in a generation while hunger levels regressed to those not witnessed before 2005.^[2] As per the Secretary-General’s 2023 report measuring the progress on Sustainable Development Goals, 575 million people will continue to be living in extreme poverty in 2030.^[3] The recent crises have also “reversed the decades-long trend of narrowing global income inequality”.^[4]

Objectives

The report aims to explore promising practices in economic and legal policies, interventions, and mechanisms that have been instituted by governments to mitigate the multifaceted impacts to tackle this unprecedented deterioration.

Consistent with the focus on the resolution 53/28 on poverty and inequalities, the report will specifically delve into the design, implementation and monitoring of national development plans, public finance and debt management frameworks, strategies and other relevant areas of economic policy that have contributed to the promotion and protection of human rights.

Key questions and types of input/comments sought

• Can you share best practices and lessons learned on policies, initiatives, mechanisms, safeguards or emergency packages that have been put in place by your government to tackle rising poverty and inequalities in the context of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, that helped advance human rights including the right to development?
• Can you highlight initiatives or strategies that proved effective to protect disadvantaged groups’ rights and prevent that they be pushed further behind?
• Could you share promising methodologies that your government used for National Development Plans to tackle rising poverty and inequalities and leave no one behind, in the context of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda?
• Can you share good practice, lessons learned and examples of national public finance and debt management frameworks, policies or laws that ring-fenced States’ legal obligations on economic, social and other rights?
• Do you have methodologies, indicators, or metrics on human rights or equality impact assessments that your government used in the context of debt sustainability analyses? Are there lessons learned from past and ongoing debt crisis on the risk and debt sustainability framework and how it can be reinforced for the promotion and protection of human rights?
• What do you see as the most urgent reforms of the international financial architecture to support governments’ efforts to reduce poverty, inequalities and realize human rights?