A/HRC/RES/40/12 1. Welcomes the most recent accession to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and calls upon all States that have not yet signed and ratified or acceded to the Covenant to consider doing so as a matter of priority, and States parties to consider reviewing their reservations thereto; 2. Calls upon all States to give full effect to economic, social and cultural rights and to take all appropriate measures to implement the Human Rights Council resolutions on the question of the realization in all countries of economic, social and cultural rights, the most recent of which is resolution 37/13 of 22 March 2018; 3. Welcomes the most recent accession to the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and encourages all States that have not yet signed and ratified or acceded to the Optional Protocol to consider doing so, and also to consider making declarations under articles 10 and 11 thereof; 4. Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General on the question of the realization of economic, social and cultural rights in all countries, with a special focus on the role of economic, social and cultural rights in empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality, submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 37/13,1 and of the conclusions contained therein; 5. Emphasizes that, in General Assembly resolution 70/1, States committed to taking bold and transformative steps that were urgently needed to shift the world onto a sustainable and resilient path, pledged that no one would be left behind and that they would endeavour to reach the furthest behind first, recognized that the dignity of the human person was fundamental, envisaged a world of universal respect for equality and nondiscrimination and included the concepts of resilience and sustainability in the Sustainable Development Goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; 6. Urges States to adopt or further develop procedures for informationgathering and measurement that may, if analysed in the light of international human rights law principles and standards, serve as national indicators for State decision-making processes, and that are transparent and participatory and allow for accountability; 7. Notes with appreciation the contributions of international human rights mechanisms, including the international human rights treaty bodies, the Human Rights Council and its subsidiary bodies, the special procedures and the universal periodic review in promoting the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in accordance with States’ human rights obligations, and encourages States to give due consideration to information, observations and recommendations from human rights mechanisms when implementing and monitoring the progress of the 2030 Agenda, and to promote the cooperation of all stakeholders towards the full integration of human rights into the said processes; 8. Underlines the importance of access to justice and an effective remedy for violations of economic, social and cultural rights, and in this regard notes with appreciation the measures taken to facilitate access to complaints procedures and the domestic adjudication of cases, as appropriate, for victims of alleged human rights violations; 9. Welcomes the steps taken at the national level to implement economic, social and cultural rights, including the enactment of appropriate legislation and adjudication by national courts, and in this regard underlines the need to consider justiciability when determining the best way to give domestic legal effect to the rights in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; 10. Recognizes that the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and their 169 targets are aimed at, inter alia, realizing the human rights of all and achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, and that they are integrated and indivisible and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development, namely the economic, social and environmental, calls upon States to implement the 2030 Agenda consistent with the principles of equality and non-discrimination, and in this regard encourages States to consider appropriate measures to promote de facto equality; 1 A/HRC/40/29. 3