HUMAN RIGHTS AND POST-2015 DEVELOPMENT AGENDA

“HUMAN RIGHTS MUST BE AT THE CENTRE OF THE POST 2015 AGENDA” affirmed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navy Pillay, in her Open Letter to all Member States on Human Rights and Post 2015 Agenda on the 6^th of June, 2013.

According to the High Commissioner, “some of the most celebrated Millennium Development Goals success stories since 2000 are now sites of mass protest decrying widespread deprivation, repression and inequalities masked by the narrow models of economic analysis that have characterized development approaches in the pre-2015 period. The message is clear: economic growth is not an adequate measure of development.

Rather, equality matters, the environment matters and human rights matter. So do good governance and anti-corruption. The real test, to a growing global population demanding a life of dignity, is the degree to which they are able to enjoy freedom from fear and want, without discrimination.”

The Millennium Declaration, adopted in 2000, recognized the link between human rights and development. The UN General Assembly’s High-level Plenary Meeting on the MDGs in 2010 (The MDGs Summit) reaffirmed that respect for all human rights, respect for nature and shared responsibility, are essential for achieving the MDGs. The commitment was further reaffirmed by Member States in the 2012 Rio+20 Conference, where States emphasized their responsibilities “to respect, protect and promote human rights and fundamental freedoms for all”. They also stressed the need to reduce inequalities and acknowledged that democracy, good governance and the rule of law are “essential for sustainable development, including sustained and inclusive economic growth, social development, environmental protection and the eradication of poverty and hunger.”  But the weakness of systems created to monitor and report on progress, and the absence or underuse of mechanisms for reviewing and ensuring compliance, has rendered these commitments difficult to enforce.

With only two years left until the MDGs timeline expires in 2015, commitments made for human rights need to be reviewed and renewed for the development Agenda that will follow the MDGs. A strong framework is necessary to keep  States accountable to implementing the commitments they have made.

In this regard Ms Navy Pillay proposed 10 essential elements to take into account for the Post-2015 Development Agenda:

1.       A human rights - based approach;

2.       Freedom from both fear and want;

3.       Equality;

4.       Excluded groups;

5.       Ending poverty;

6.       Healthy environment;

7.       An international reform to ensure human rights- based coherence at the international level;

8.       A universally applicable Agenda;

9.       A strong accountability framework;
10. Including actors of the private sector.