Human Rights and Sustainable Development Goals: A Pathway to Fulfill the Compulsion of Human Rights (original) (raw)

Human Rights and the Sustainable Development Goals - Pursuing Synergies

If the 2030 Agenda is to be realised in a way that truly does ‘leave no one behind,’ then human rights obligations and commitments must be applied, implemented and protected by all UN member States. Similarly, the full enjoyment of all human rights will only be possible in the context of worldwide progress with the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and Targets, including the eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions. As the UN Secretary-General himself remarked during his recent address to this Council: 'human rights, including the right to development, lie at the core of the 2030 Agenda;' while - seen the other way around – the 2030 Agenda provides States with “an ideal platform to demonstrate their commitment to all human rights.' Human rights and the 2030 Agenda Human rights lie at the core of the 2030 Agenda. The Agenda envisages a world of universal respect for human rights and human dignity, the rule of law, justice, equality and non-discrimination; of respect for race, sex, ethnicity and cultural diversity; and of equal opportunity permitting the full realisation of human potential and contributing to shared prosperity; a just, equitable, tolerant, open and socially inclusive world in which the needs of the most vulnerable are met. Yet, thus far, the main body responsible for human rights at the UN, the Human Rights Council, has paid only ad hoc attention to understanding and strengthening the human rights pillar’s contribution to the implementation of the SDGs in all countries. That is important, because, simply put, without the support of the international human rights system, and without the strengthened enjoyment of human rights on the ground, it will not be possible to fulfil the promise of the SDGs to ‘leave no one behind.’ Against this background, in late 2016 a group of States, in consultation with interested NGOs, including the Universal Rights Group and the Danish Institute for Human Rights, set up a Group of Friends to consider and guide the UN human rights system’s support for the SDGs. The Permanent Missions of Azerbaijan, Chile, Denmark, Ecuador, Fiji, Luxembourg, Portugal, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Thailand, and Uruguay, with the support of the Danish Institute for Human Rights and the Universal Rights Group, are delighted to launch, an important new report on: ‘Human Rights and the Sustainable Development Goals – Pursuing Synergies.’ The report provides a summary of an open-ended meeting held on 29 June this year in Satigny, Switzerland, which considered how to leverage the interdependent and mutually reinforcing nature of human rights and sustainable development. The Satigny meeting gathered more than 130 people, including high-level representatives and delegates from Geneva permanent missions, government institutions, UN agencies, national human rights institutions, and civil society. As well as providing a summary of that meeting, the report also offers several conclusions and possible next steps. It seeks to ‘unpack’ the issues related to the convergence of the human rights agenda and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in order to contribute to the realisation of both agendas in a integrated and mutually reinforcing manner.

Strengthening the Sustainable Development Goals through integration with human rights

International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics

This paper discusses the relationship between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the long-standing human rights system of the United Nations. Thematically, these two modes of global governance strongly overlap. Several SDGs are in line with human rights obligations. At the same time, the SDGs and human rights are based on divergent logics and constructed very differently. After capturing the key characteristics of the two governance modes, this paper highlights the differences between the SDGs and human rights and introduces a novel conceptualisation to enhance our understanding of the relationship between rights-based and goal-based approaches. Against this backdrop, we assess this relationship and argue that human rights have the potential to strengthen and reinforce the SDGs. In particular, we sketch some future pathways to better integrate the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with existing human rights instruments to enhance accountability, review, and participa...

Assessing the sustainable development goals from a human rights perspective

Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy, 2016

Though they improve upon the millennium development goals (MDGs), the new sustainable development goals (SDGs) have important draw-backs. First, in assessing present deprivations, they draw our attention to historical comparisons. Yet, that things were even worse before is morally irrelevant; what matters is how much better things could be now. Second, like the MDGs, the SDGs fail to specify any division of labor to ensure success. Therefore, should progress stall, we won't know who is responsible to get us back on track. We won't “end poverty in all its forms everywhere” without an agreement on who is to do what. Third, although the SDGs contain a goal calling for inequality reduction, this goal is specified so that the reduction need not start till 2029. Such delay would cause enormous death and suffering among the poor and enable the rich to shape national and supranational design in their own favor.

Global Obligations for Sustainable Development: Harmonizing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and International Human Rights Law

41 U. Pa. J. Int’l L. 1031 (2020), 2020

Poverty eradication is a common fundamental goal of the human rights agenda and the sustainable development agenda. International human rights law considers poverty to be a denial of human rights and acknowledges shared global obligations to alleviate poverty and realize socio-economic rights indispensable for leading a decent life universally. In unison with the human rights agenda, sustainable development instruments declare healing the planet from poverty and freeing people from the tyranny of want as a primary goal of the contemporary globalized world. This was reaffirmed by a recent important document — Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. That Agenda declares that “eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development.” This Article represents a systematic analysis of the global obligations to eradicate poverty and ensure a decent standard of living universally embedded in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It provides a general outline of the conception of global obligations for sustainable development and opens a novel understanding of their nature, status, content, scope, and duty-bearers, as well as the mechanisms necessary for their implementation. This Article also examines special features, strengths and limitations, and the interrelation between commitments for sustainable development and global obligations in the area of socio-economic rights. Based on that analysis, this Article puts forward suggestions for how the contemporary sustainable development agenda might be further improved in order to realize global obligations for sustainable development. Additionally, this Article explores modes of global governance and accountability that are necessary to realize human rights and reach the Sustainable Development Goals. It concludes by suggesting how the human rights and sustainable development agendas should be harmonized in a way that enriches both agendas at normative and institutional levels, in the service of realizing their common goals of combating poverty and ensuring a decent standard of living universally.

The Sustainable Development Goals and the rights-based approach to development: Compatible or missing the point

African Human Rights Law Journal, 2019

The Millennium Development Goals have been criticised for the limited role that human rights have played in their design and implementation. When the timeline for the achievement of the MDGs drew near the attention turned to formulating a new development compact that would succeed them. In order to address the critiques of the MDGs a rightsbased approach to development has been proposed to form the basis for the formulation, implementation and monitoring of the new set of goals. With the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, adopted on 25 September 2015, it falls to be questioned to what extent the 2030 Agenda incorporates human rights in all stages of development programming. This article undertakes such an examination. To this end the article analyses to what extent the SDG framework is in line with the principles of a rights-based approach to development, namely, equality and non-discrimination, accountability, participation, empowerment and the interrelatedness of human rights. It concludes that although the 2030 Agenda in some areas is compatible with the principles of a rights-based approach to development, especially the principle of participation, more should be done with respect to the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the SDGs to ensure that the full spectrum of advantages offered under a rights-based approach to development can be achieved.

LINKING THE SDGS WITH HUMAN RIGHTS: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES OF PROMOTING GOAL 17

Journal of Sustainable Development Law and Policy, 2019

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is grounded in different international human rights instruments. Human rights (HR) principles and standards are strongly reflected in several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets. Furthermore, SDG 17 emphasizes partnership as a key to achieving all of the SDGs. This article examines the SDGs-HR linkage in general, as well as specific HR principles that can be advanced by the achievement of SDG 17. Opportunities and challenges to promote Goal 17 of the SDGs that directly affect certain HRs are also examined. A review of relevant literature, 2030 summit documents, and outcomes of recent international conferences on the SDGs is undertaken in order to determine the progress made towards forging regional and global partnerships for the SDGs, as envisaged in Goal 17. This article finds that the absence of a political will and commitment, increased isolationist policy, narrow nationalism and poor rule linkage at national and international levels are some of the obstacles to the attainment of Goal 17. Yet, opportunities abound to promote the Goal. The article recommends a genuine commitment to implementing the SDGs by encouraging the South-South and North-South to prevent the SDGs from becoming a mere wishlist. The synergy between the government, individuals, civil society organizations (CSOs) and transnational corporations (TNCs) is equally very important. Keywords: Human rights, sustainable development goals, partnership for the goals.

The Relation of Human Rights Laws and Sustainable Development Goals Toward Reconciliation, Conflict Transformation, and Peace

reconciliation conflict transformation and peace studiess, 2024

In its general concept, sustainable development promotes human rights and international law and an open path into reconciliation, conflict transformation, and peace. It is closely related to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the economic and social rights enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. In 2015, member states of the United Nations unanimously adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030, which aim to uphold human rights for all, promote people-centered development, and achieve humanitarian security. However, the process of sustainable development has faced numerous obstacles due to local and international disputes, the spread of health pandemics, neglecting the causes of poverty and gender discrimination, as well as disarmament. Additionally, this plan should have explicitly addressed human rights as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the two international covenants. Keywords Sustainable development • Human rights • The 2030 development plan • Reconciliation • Conflict transformation • Peace studies