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“Human Rights as Catalysts for Sustainable Development:
Leveraging a Coordinated Approach by the UN Development System to Leave No One Behind”

Wednesday, 15 May 2024, 1:15 -2:30 pm
UNHQ Conference Room 11

Excellencies,
Distinguished panellists,
Dear friends and colleagues,

I am deeply grateful to the Permanent Missions of Chile, Costa Rica, and Luxembourg, as well as to the UN Interagency Network on Human Rights, Leave No One Behind, and Sustainable Development, for convening this discussion. With participation from 18 UN entities, this network - that OHCHR co-chairs with ILO - provides an invaluable platform to design collective strategies to operationalise the critical role of human rights in sustainable development and leaving no one behind.

This ECOSOC side-event marks a pivotal moment for reflection on the collective efforts of the United Nations Development System to implement the 2020 Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review Resolution. The Resolution calls upon all entities of the UN Development System to assist Governments in their efforts to meet their human rights obligations and commitments as a critical tool to operationalize the pledge to leave no one behind.

Reflecting on the Secretary-General's 2023 progress report, presented yesterday, it is heartening to note widespread government satisfaction with the UN Development System's assistance in assessing and addressing the needs of the most vulnerable, poorest and those furthest behind. States’ satisfaction has remained consistently high throughout the quadrennial cycle, underscoring the value of pursuing integrated efforts in achieving human rights and the SDGs.

It is equally heartening to note the continual demand from States for human rights advice. 80 per cent of UN Resident Coordinators reported that Governments have sought policy advice on human rights, reflecting a vital partnership.

Excellencies,
Dear colleagues,

We stand at a crossroads. Interlocked crises have eroded progress on most of the SDGs, with only 15 per cent of the SDG targets on track to be achieved globally by 2030. Inequalities are skyrocketing. Climate change is having devastating effects our planet.

Global poverty has risen for the first time in a generation. We live in a world where almost half of humanity – some 3.3 billion people – live in countries where governments spend more servicing their debts than on ensuring children are in school or that people have access to affordable healthcare.

While human rights, including the right to development, need to be achieved in their own right, they are now increasingly recognized as an essential lever for resuming progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Human Rights set the path towards a more equal, resilient, just, green and sustainable world that is fit not only for us today, but also for future generations. They help us build transparent, effective, and inclusive institutions, vital for the fabric of our societies, and to rebuild trust in public institutions among those who have benefited the least from development.

They provide critical blueprints for more inclusive and equitable economies, for the prevention of further environmental degradation, and to ensure that digital technologies prioritize human dignity, privacy, and equality. Infusing human rights norms and values in the reforms of the international financial architecture will be essential to counter growing inequalities within and among states.

Allow me to highlight a few examples of OHCHR support tailored to the needs of different countries, which illustrate the catalytic role of human rights in sustainable development and showcase the value of close collaboration on human rights across the UN country team, in line with the vision presented in the Secretary-General’s Call to Action for Human Rights. These examples also underscore the wealth of analysis and recommendations of the HR mechanisms that can be leveraged to realise the SDGs.

In Serbia, the country’s first comprehensive data mapping and analysis enabled the Roma community to gain visibility in policy making. This concerted effort, that OHCHR pursued together with the government, UN Country Team, and CSOs, provided the Roma with greater space and voice and led to evidence-based improvements in living conditions and access to safe drinking water as well as designated land for social housing.

In Mongolia, a thorough human rights assessment OHCHR conducted with local counterparts provided critical direction to design national policies addressing housing rights gaps for persons with disabilities. This initiative, coupled with the contribution by disability rights organizations to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’ review, was used to influence the National Program for Housing to People with Disabilities, adopted in 2023, as well as for the national follow-up action plan to the CRPD recommendations.

In Zambia, OHCHR undertook a study to provide advice to the government on how to ring fence the rights to food and education in the context of debt restructuring , which included an analysis of fiscal and budget policies and the potential impacts of an IMF loan agreement and austerity measures. The findings are informing ongoing policy consultations with the Government, UN country team members and civil society partners, including on options for a Universal School Feeding Programme.

In Jordan, OHCHR’s collaborative efforts with Jordan's Economic and Social Council and members of the UN country team produced a policy brief that highlighted the importance of mobilizing the necessary resources to invest in economic, social and cultural rights, and to reposition public expenditure to prioritize people’s needs and rights. This human rights-based approach to taxation and public finance aimed to help the government to tackle inequalities and set out ways in which the government could more effectively to support the realization of economic and social rights and the SDGs.

I believe these examples, alongside those that will be presented by our fellow agencies today, illustrate that when human rights are asserted, implemented, and accounted for, they effectively anchor leave no one behind strategies with the human rights principles of equality and non-discrimination and firmly lay the groundwork for creating equitable societies.

In conclusion, as we approach the next quadrennial policy review, it is now more than ever vital that the QCPR review reiterates recognition that human rights are key for sustainable development and reconfirm the pivotal role of the UN Development System in assisting States to respect and fulfil their human rights obligations as they realise the SDGs.

Thank you.