A/HRC/23/45
beyond the economic sphere to the humanitarian, environmental and other fields where the
North/South distinctions have become less clear-cut;
(b)
The draft declaration will invoke the legal sources of a right to international
solidarity that have been pointed out repeatedly in the past, and document the details of
international law and international human rights law on which the right is founded. The
principles that will inform the declaration will evolve from the substantive content of
human rights treaties and other sources of international law; relevant resolutions of the
Commission on Human Rights and the Human Rights Council; the interests that States
share in common; and the interests of various civil society actors, including nongovernmental and grass-roots groups;
(c)
The configuration of a right to international solidarity requires more than
relying solely on rationality. Since international solidarity stems from the lived experience
of interdependence and interrelatedness that inform social relations in contemporary times,
a right to international solidarity must take into account how good practices of collective
action on the ground—whether among individuals, groups of individuals or States—give
rise to desirable outcomes towards the realization of human rights. People and institutions
can and do engage in what one author has called ―solidarity relations‖ 1 across distances.
Even in the absence of face-to-face contact, modern technology has given them the means
for finding commonalities as their basis for empathy and for taking collective action. This
phenomenon is evident in the multifarious social movements that have spanned the globe in
recent times, and the phenomenal growth of social networking along with the virtual and
the real communities it spawned. Best practices in this regard can validate a right to
international solidarity;
(d)
Precisely because international solidarity resides in such a fragile balance of
empathy, openness and readiness to take action, its outcomes can either be directed towards
the realization of human rights, or manipulated, misused and abused to further perpetuate
pervasive asymmetries and inequalities. A right to international solidarity would provide a
mechanism to prevent, protect against and manage this risk;
(e)
A right to international solidarity will establish and strengthen space for
participation and, at the same time, increase the accountability of national and international
stakeholders by creating duties and obligations, including respect for cultural diversity and
the right to peace. It should not be interpreted as replacing the obligations of national
Governments to respect, protect and fulfil human rights within their territories. It would
support national policy choices, and at the international level, could take the form of
supporting participation, for example by making data available to all, including through
transfer of technology, capacity-building and the sharing of the benefits of research and
scientific progress. As a minimum core obligation, States must desist from actions that
violate human rights in other countries;
(f)
A right to international solidarity will identify obligations that extend beyond
the question of establishing mechanisms at the international level for the distribution of
resources. Positive obligations would include taking concrete steps to regulate financial
markets; cooperating to regulate migration on the basis of solidarity; guaranteeing access to
information and communications technology, especially for the marginalized and
disadvantaged; implementing measures that guarantee participation in decision-making;
and countering systemic violations of human rights. Negative obligations would include not
adopting free trade agreements that have the effect of undermining peoples’ livelihoods or
1
See Carol C. Gould, ―Transnational Solidarities‖, Journal of Social Philosophy, vol. 38, No. 1 (2007),
pp. 148-164.
5
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