A/HRC/40/34
human rights-based approach, tackling discrimination and reaching those that are the furthest
behind.
29.
Ms. Devandas Aguilar stated that the ambitious 2030 Agenda created new
commitments and responsibilities for the international community and States, but
corresponding resources had not been allocated to ensure that the goals could be
accomplished. The special procedures were addressing the process of resource mobilization,
and the special procedures and human rights mechanisms in general were there to support
States in taking a human rights-based approach to implementing the Sustainable
Development Goals. They aimed to provide technical assistance and recommendations to
help States in developing the initiatives and policies needed to advance in the implementation
of the Sustainable Development Goals.
30.
To illustrate this, Ms. Devandas Aguilar described how, as Special Rapporteur on the
rights of persons with disabilities, she had written a specific report about how to develop
disability-inclusive policies to implement the Sustainable Development Goals and about the
elements that should be incorporated in any policy to make sure that persons with disabilities
were not left behind. Accountability mechanisms needed to be in place at the international
and local levels. Those persons who were left behind must be brought into and be able to
participate in conversations.
31.
For the Sustainable Development Goals to be a success for persons with disabilities
and members of other disadvantaged groups, it was essential to measure progress and
enhance ways to identify the beneficiary populations in order to assess if policies were having
the desired effects. Data collection and disaggregation remained a big challenge in the
implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals for many disadvantaged groups. She
concluded by reaffirming the great opportunity that the Sustainable Development Goals
represented and cautioning that the opportunity would not be realized without greater
resource mobilization and a human rights-based approach.
32.
In the discussion, Ms. Robinson welcomed the practical activities of UNDP. She
remained concerned by the divide between New York and Geneva and encouraged
Governments to make better use in New York of their Geneva knowledge and expertise with
the human rights mechanisms. She appealed to Governments covering the Human Rights
Council to make a special effort to reach across to those reporting in a voluntary soft way to
the high-level political forum on sustainable development and integrate the better and
stronger universal periodic review approach.
33.
Ms. Okai said that UNDP would be looking closely at the issue of inequality in 2019,
notably in its Human Development Report. She observed that inequality pertained not only
to developing countries, but also to developed countries and middle-income countries that
still had marginalized populations. A new approach was needed that went beyond looking at
inequality only from the perspective of rich-to-poor redistribution, and UNDP aimed to come
up with proposals and policy recommendations.
34.
Ms. Devandas Aguilar reiterated that the special procedures recognized that additional
resources must be found to pay for the new responsibilities being attributed to States. She
also stressed that even with resources, an inclusive and participatory human rights-based
approach was needed for the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals to be
successful.
35.
Mr. Sachs emphasized the importance of raising resources through taxation. He
acknowledged that discrimination, neglect and marginalization were important issues and
that poor governance was a problem in some places; in his view, however, poverty was the
greatest real problem for many people and their governments in many countries. He insisted
on the importance of identifying financial resources prior to the high-level political forum on
sustainable development to be held in September 2019.
6
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents