A/HRC/39/51 are relatively uncommon in low- and middle-income countries.33 While existing systems even in high-income countries need to be further evaluated in terms of accessibility, including for linguistic minorities and for persons with disabilities, providing information about budgets, regulatory changes and programmes in an accessible format and seeking the feedback of beneficiaries are of utmost importance for effective participation and ensuring that no one is left behind. 29. In its World Development Report 2017, the World Bank provides multiple examples of cases where increasing the direct representation of women and disadvantaged or minority individuals in legislative assemblies and other political bodies can help to bring about policies that are aligned with the needs of these groups, and how the political representation of disadvantaged groups seems to be effective in reducing poverty. 34 Other examples of effective participation provided are various forms of direct democracy and public deliberations that allow group-based discussion and weighing of alternative preferences, and this can assist in improving the legitimacy of decisions by clarifying the needs and demands of local constituencies. 35 It is argued that public deliberation is most successful at the local level and can complement decentralization reforms. 36 30. Another crucial precondition to achieving progress towards equality and promoting the right to development is the existence of accessible and effective accountability mechanisms. Providing effective remedies for human rights violations, including discrimination, is a basic obligation of States under international human rights law, which not only recognizes the individual human rights of every human being, but places an obligation on States to ensure, secure or guarantee the effective enjoyment of human rights with its jurisdiction.37 The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has stated in its general comment No. 9 (1998) on the domestic application of the Covenant that, for the Covenant norms to be recognized in appropriate ways within the domestic legal order, appropriate means of redress, or remedies, must be available to any aggrieved individual or group, and appropriate means of ensuring governmental accountability must be put in place. States have recognized the importance of providing remedies for gender inequalities by electing the indicator of whether or not legal frameworks are in place to promote, enforce and monitor equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sex as an indicator for achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5. More recently, principle 29 of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights suggested that business enterprises also need to make it possible for grievances to be addressed early and remedied directly, by establishing or participating in effective operational-level grievance mechanisms for individuals and communities who may be adversely impacted. V. Right to development and addressing inequalities in the Sustainable Development Goals 31. The 2030 Agenda recognizes “rising inequalities within and among countries”, “enormous disparities of opportunity, wealth and power” and persistent “gender inequality” as “immense challenges” confronting the world today. Under the Agenda, a commitment is made to leave no one behind, to ensure targets are met for all nations and peoples and for all segments of society, and to reach the furthest behind first. Consistent with international human rights law, the 2030 Agenda contains a commitment to combating income and wealth inequalities and acknowledges that relative inequalities in income and wealth 33 34 35 36 37 Ibid., p. 150, figure 5.6. Ibid., p. 180. Ibid., p. 239. Ibid., pp. 239–240. See, for example, art. 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 2 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, art. 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, art. 2 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 1 of the Arab Charter on Human Rights, art. 1 of the InterAmerican Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture and art. 1 Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (European Convention on Human Rights). 11