A/HRC/33/21
goals that had been set. The 2030 Agenda had reinforced the duty to eradicate poverty and
hunger, which were the biggest threats to the realization of the right to development.
26.
Mr. Kanade said that it was indispensable to operationalize the right to development
and that the only way forward for realistically implementing the Sustainable Development
Goals as envisioned in the 2030 Agenda. That meant embedding the implementation of the
Goals firmly within the normative framework provided by the Declaration. He offered
specific scenarios for what that would entail.
27.
In that context, focus should be placed not only on the outcomes that must result
from the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, but equally on the processes through which
those outcomes must be achieved. That included participation by all stakeholders as well as
respecting the policy space of States and their people in determining and implementing
their own development priorities. While Goal 17 focused on what was to be achieved, it
was only by operationalizing the right to development that focus would be placed on how it
was achieved as well. Additionally, operationalizing the right to development meant that
development, in order to be sustainable, must not be seen as a charity, a privilege or an
expression of generosity, but as a right of human beings everywhere.
28.
All States were duty bearers with respect to the right to development. That duty
extended to international decision-making, including at the United Nations, the World
Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization. Thus, States
would be failing in their obligations if they created international lending policies or
multilateral trade rules that were unfavourable to the realization of the right to
development. Goal 17 emphasized strengthening the means of implementation through a
revitalized global partnership for sustainable development; it was an expression of the duty
of States towards international cooperation, enshrined in the Declaration and in the Charter
of the United Nations.
29.
The operationalization of the right to development also required a comprehensive,
multidimensional and holistic approach to development as a human right. That meant that
all the Sustainable Development Goals must be aligned with human rights and promote
their realization. Furthermore, no goal should be achieved at the cost of any human right,
whether substantive or procedural. In that manner, the right to development ensured that
there was no trade-off between rights. There was a need to go beyond a human rights-based
approach to development, which focused on linking and aligning the objectives of
development projects to specific human rights norms, standards and principles. Mr. Kanade
argued that a right to development approach went further, making development itself a selfstanding human right.
30.
Such an approach would require not only that recipients of international cooperation
fulfilled their human rights obligations internally through accountable and transparent
institutions, but also that donors were duty bound by human rights principles in providing
financial or technical aid for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. That included
ensuring that developing countries had the necessary policy space to define their own
development priorities and their own mechanisms for implementing them; it also required
ensuring that donors refrained from imposing conditions on financial and technical aid
which violated national policy space and human rights.
31.
Finally, it was important to ensure that the indicators for the Sustainable
Development Goals and targets were compatible with the objective of making the right to
development a reality for everyone. That included clear, quantifiable indicators for both
national and international action, with appropriate benchmarks for each goal, particularly
Goal 17. The Sustainable Development Goals should be seen as an expression by States of
their individual and collective intention to fulfil their obligations under the Declaration. In
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