Human Rights Council Adopts Five Resolutions, Submits to General Assembly Draft International Covenant on the Right to Development for its Negotiation and Adoption, and Extends Mandate on Burundi

MORNING 12 October 2023

The Human Rights Council this morning adopted five resolutions, including one in which it decided to submit to the General Assembly the draft international covenant on the right to development for its consideration, negotiation and subsequent adoption, and another in which it extended the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burundi for one year.

Other resolutions adopted concerned preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and human rights, the contribution of the implementation of the objectives of the International Year of the Family and its follow-up processes in the promotion and protection of human rights, and the realisation of the equal enjoyment of the right to education by every girl.

In a resolution on the right to development, adopted by a vote of 29 in favour, 13 against and 5 abstentions, the Council decided to submit to the General Assembly the draft international covenant on the right to development for its consideration, negotiation and subsequent adoption. The Council also requested the Office to organise the next biennial panel discussion on the right to development at the fifty-seventh session of the Council.

In a resolution on the situation of human rights in Burundi, adopted by a vote of 20 in favour, 10 against, and 17 abstentions, the Council called for an immediate end to all human rights violations and abuses and for the full respect of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. The Council decided to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burundi for a further period of one year, and urged the Government to cooperate fully with the Special Rapporteur.

Concerning preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and human rights, the Council requested the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare an update to the technical guidance on the application of a human rights-based approach to the elimination of preventable maternal mortality and morbidity, and to submit it to the Council at its sixtieth session.

On the contribution of the implementation of the objectives of the International Year of the Family and its follow-up processes in the promotion and protection of human rights, the Council decided to convene, at its fifty-seventh session, a panel discussion on the implementation of States’ obligations under relevant provisions of international human rights law on the role of the family in supporting the protection and promotion of human rights of its members, to discuss challenges and best practices in this regard. It also decided to organise an expert workshop before its fifty-ninth session, on the role of the family and family-oriented approaches, policies and programmes in the promotion and protection of human rights and in sustainable development, to highlight best practices from different regions.

As for the realisation of the equal enjoyment of the right to education by every girl, the Council urged all States to strengthen and intensify their efforts to take deliberate and targeted steps for every girl to fully realise the equal enjoyment of the right to education, and to review, repeal and eliminate, as appropriate, laws, policies and practices that negatively affect the right to education of every girl. The Council requested the High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a report on how climate change can impact the realisation of the equal enjoyment of the right to education by every girl, as well as highlighting how the realisation of the equal enjoyment of the right to education by every girl can contribute to the climate change agenda.

The webcast of the Human Rights Council meetings can be found here. All meeting summaries can be found here. Documents and reports related to the Human Rights Council’s fifty-fourth regular session can be found here.

The Council will reconvene this afternoon at 3 p.m. to continue to take action on draft resolutions before concluding its fifty-fourth session on Friday, 13 October.

Action on Resolutions Under Agenda Item Three on the Promotion and Protection of All Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, including the Right to Development

In a resolution (A/HRC/54/L.17/Rev.1) on Preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and human rights, adopted without a vote, the Council urges all States to eliminate preventable maternal mortality and morbidity, to respect, protect and fulfil sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights and to guarantee universal access to sexual and reproductive health services, evidence-based comprehensive sexuality education, safe and effective methods of modern contraception, universal access to health care, and the integration of sexual and reproductive health into national strategies and programmes for all women and girls; urges States to ensure the availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of health information and services, and to address any misinformation and disinformation regarding sexual and reproductive health services and barriers to access to such services; requests the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare an update to the technical guidance on the application of a human rights-based approach to the elimination of preventable maternal mortality and morbidity, informed by a global analysis from different regional perspectives of good practices, gaps and challenges and the main developments in the area of preventable maternal mortality and morbidity, and to submit the updated technical guidance, in a comprehensive report, accessible to persons with disabilities, to the Council at its sixtieth session; also requests the Office of the High Commissioner to facilitate the open, transparent and inclusive update of the technical guidance, through online consultations with relevant stakeholders, including through one expert consultation, to be held in hybrid format, in 2025; and decides to remain seized of the matter.

Before L.17 Rev. 1 was adopted without a vote, the Council took action on five draft amendments. L.40 was rejected by a vote of 14 in favour, 20 against, and 12 abstentions; L.41 was rejected by a vote of 13 in favour, 21 against, and 11 abstentions; L.42 was rejected by a vote of 12 in favour, 21 against, and 12 abstentions; L.43 was rejected by a vote of 12 in favour, 21 against, and 12 abstentions; and L.47 was rejected by a vote of 14 in favour, 21 against, and 10 abstentions.

In a resolution (A/HRC/54/L.24/Rev.1) on the Contribution of the implementation of the objectives of the International Year of the Family and its follow-up processes in the promotion and protection of human rights, adopted without a vote, the Council encourages States to ensure the meaningful and inclusive participation of all relevant stakeholders in the development and implementation of relevant family-oriented policies and programmes responding to the needs and expectations of all families; decides to convene, at its fifty-seventh session, a panel discussion, accessible to persons with disabilities, on the implementation of States’ obligations under relevant provisions of international human rights law on the role of the family in supporting the protection and promotion of human rights of its members, to discuss challenges and best practices in this regard, and requests the High Commissioner to prepare a summary report on the discussion, and an Easy Read version thereof, and to submit it to the Council at its fifty-eighth session; decides to organise an expert workshop, accessible to persons with disabilities, before its fifty-ninth session, on the role of the family and family-oriented approaches, policies and programmes in the promotion and protection of human rights and in sustainable development, to highlight best practices from different regions, with the participation of representatives from States, United Nations entities, and civil society, and requests the High Commissioner to prepare a summary report on the discussions, and an Easy Read version thereof, held at the workshop and to submit it to the Council at its sixtieth session; and further decides to remain seized of the matter.

In a resolution (A/HRC/54/L.27) on The right to development, adopted by a vote of 29 in favour, 13 against and 5 abstentions, the Council requests the High Commissioner for Human Rights to continue to submit to the Council an annual report on the activities of the Office of the High Commissioner, including on inter-agency coordination within the United Nations system that has direct relevance to the realisation of the right to development, to provide an analysis, taking into account existing challenges to the realisation of the right to development, and to make recommendations on how to overcome them and concrete proposals for supporting the Working Group on the Right to Development in fulfilling its mandate; urges the Office of the High Commissioner, in the implementation of the Declaration on the Right to Development, to ensure balanced, efficient and visible allocation of both financial and human resources to the existing mechanisms within the Office for the realisation of the right to development, in collaboration with the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development and the Special Rapporteur on the right to development, and to provide regular updates to the Council in this regard; decides to submit to the General Assembly the draft international covenant on the right to development annexed to the present resolution, for its consideration, negotiation and subsequent adoption; requests the Special Rapporteur and the members of the Expert Mechanism to participate in relevant international dialogues and policy forums relating to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda; requests the Office, in accordance with paragraph 27 of Council resolution 42/23, to organise the next biennial panel discussion on the right to development in a format that is fully accessible to persons with disabilities, including sign language interpretation, at the fifty-seventh session of the Council, and also requests the Office to prepare a report on the panel discussion and to submit it to the Council at its fifty-eighth session; and decides to review the progress of the implementation of the present resolution, as a matter of priority, at its future sessions.

The results of the vote were as follows:

For (29): Algeria, Bangladesh, Benin, Bolivia, Cameroon, China, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia, Honduras, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, Qatar, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Viet Nam.

Against (13): Belgium, Czechia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Romania, Ukraine, United Kingdom and United States.

Abstentions (5): Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico and Paraguay.

In a resolution (A/HRC/54/L.37/Rev.1) on the Realisation of the equal enjoyment of the right to education by every girl, adopted without a vote, the Council urges all States to strengthen and intensify their efforts to take deliberate and targeted steps for every girl to fully realise the equal enjoyment of the right to education, to eliminate all barriers that hinder girls’ equal enjoyment of the right to education, and to appropriately ensure non-discrimination in the admission of any child at all levels of education, particularly when designing policy measures, programmes and resource allocations; to review, repeal and eliminate, as appropriate, laws, policies and practices that negatively affect the right to education of every girl, in accordance with international human rights obligations, including discriminatory laws, policies, practices, customs, or barriers resulting from traditions or misuse of religion financial barriers, violence, early pregnancy, harmful practices such as female genital mutilation, gender stereotypes and child, early and forced marriage and barriers to menstrual hygiene management; to recognise that discriminatory gender norms deny girls’ enjoyment of their right to education, prevent them from fulfilling their leadership potential as agents of change and undermine opportunities to tackle climate change, environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity; to ensure that all girls can continue and complete their education, before, during and after climate-related disasters and in this regard design, implement and, where applicable, revise educational policies to allow them to remain in and return to school, providing them with access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, as well as social services and financial and psychosocial support; to strengthen efforts to address climate change and environmental degradation in and through education by building resilient, school systems that equip all learners with the knowledge, skills, and agency to adapt to the challenges of a changing climate and act as agents of change for their future; requests the High Commissioner for Human Rights, in consultation with States and other relevant United Nations stakeholders, civil society organizations and other stakeholders, to prepare a report on how climate change can impact the realisation of the equal enjoyment of the right to education by every girl, as well as highlighting how the realisation of the equal enjoyment of the right to education by every girl can contribute to the climate change agenda, and making recommendations, for submission to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-seventh session; and decides to remain seized of the matter.Action on Resolution Under Agenda Item Four on Human Rights Situations that Require the Council’s Attention

In a resolution (A/HRC/54/L.1) on the Situation of human rights in Burundi, adopted by a vote of 20 in favour, 10 against, and 17 abstentions, the Council calls for an immediate end to all human rights violations and abuses and for the full respect of all human rights and fundamental freedoms; urges the Government of Burundi to guarantee the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, peaceful assembly and association; condemns the widespread impunity for all human rights violations and abuses, and urges the Government to hold all perpetrators accountable for their actions and to ensure that victims can seek justice and legal redress, and encourages the Government to reconsider its decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court; decides to extend the mandate of Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burundi for a further period of one year, and requests the Special Rapporteur to present to the Human Rights Council, at its fifty-sixth session, an oral update on the situation of human rights in Burundi, and also to submit to the Council, at its fifty-seventh session, and to the General Assembly, at its seventy-ninth session, a comprehensive report; urges the Government to cooperate fully with the Special Rapporteur, providing him with all the information necessary to properly fulfil the mandate, and facilitating cooperative exchanges and synergies with the National Independent Human Rights Commission; urges the Government to constructively cooperate with the Office of the High Commissioner, and to present a timeline for the reopening of the country office of the Office of the High Commissioner in Burundi; requests the Secretary-General to provide the Special Rapporteur with the assistance and all resources necessary to fulfil the mandate with all its functions; and decides to remain seized of the matter.

The results of the vote were as follows:

For (20): Argentina, Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica, Czechia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Honduras, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Montenegro, Paraguay, Romania, Ukraine, United Kingdom and United States.

Against (10): Algeria, Bolivia, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Gabon, Pakistan, Somalia and Sudan.

Abstentions (17): Bangladesh, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, India, Kyrgyzstan and Malawi.

Produced by the United Nations Information Service in Geneva for use of the information media; not an official record.
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