A/HRC/42/60
and the National Institute of Statistics. In line with target 17.17, the Special Rapporteur
recommends enhanced capacity-building support to address this.
23.
The commitment to leaving no one behind is also reflected in the Sustainable
Development Goals by absolute targets, such as 100 per cent access to quality health care
or education, or ending poverty and hunger for all, and by the fact that the 2030 Agenda
and the Goals are universally applicable for all people in all countries. That is closely
linked to the principle of equality and non-discrimination, requiring equal rights for all,
which means reaching everyone, including the most vulnerable, marginalized and excluded.
Reaching universal targets will require special attention to be paid to the most
disadvantaged groups or areas to ensure that they progress faster than others so that
inequalities are progressively reduced.
24.
Underlining the importance of the principle of participation, the 2030 Agenda
requires the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in a spirit of
partnership, with the participation of all countries, stakeholders and people. Goal 17
emphasizes partnerships, including through encouraging and promoting “effective public,
public-private and civil society partnerships” (target 17.17). At the same time, Goal 16
requires “responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all
levels” nationally, including through ensuring public access to information and the
protection of fundamental freedoms (targets 16.7 and 16.10).
25.
States should establish an accountability framework at the national, regional and
global levels. That includes the voluntary review mechanism under the high-level political
forum and participatory monitoring mechanisms at the national level. Accountability covers
the actions of States and non-State actors, including the business sector, which should be
guided by the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Important for
accountability, the data revolution triggered by target 17.18 envisages data that can be
disaggregated fully, including on grounds recognized in international human rights law.
Cambodian Sustainable Development Goals and human rights
26.
The Council of Ministers approved the Cambodian Sustainable Development Goals
Framework on 19 November 2018 and the Ministry of Planning released it on 11 March
2019. It presents the national goals, targets and indicators, data sources, national baselines
and annual targets, and identifies the agencies responsible for implementation. It explains
how the Cambodian Goals feed into the forthcoming national strategic development plan,
which is informed by phase IV of the Government’s Rectangular Strategy. The Cambodian
Goals include 88 national targets and 148 global and locally-defined indicators, plus an
additional goal on ending the negative impact of mines and explosive remnants of war and
promoting victim assistance.
27.
From a human rights perspective, the importance of leaving no one behind is
recognized in the Cambodian Sustainable Development Goals, as reflected in various
aspects of the framework, and is identified as one of the criteria for prioritizing and phasing
targets at the implementation stage.4 Similarly, the Cambodian Goals reflect many of the
aspects of the Sustainable Development Goals that are implicitly related to human rights.
There are, however, omissions, notably in Cambodian Goal 16. Of the 12 targets under
Sustainable Development Goal 16, the Cambodian Goals reproduce only 3 (the
Government advises that this is due to the availability of data and that it will use indirect
indicators for others). While these indicators are important – promotion of the rule of law
and access to justice; ensuring responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative
decision-making at all levels; and providing a legal identity to all – they are not all
commensurate with the ambition of the related targets. For instance, the indicator identified
for target 16.3 on promoting the rule of law and ensuring equal access to justice to all is the
“proportion of people involved in the dissemination of laws”. In addition, other equally
important human rights-related targets are missing, including those related to reducing all
4
Cambodian Sustainable Development Goals (CSDGs) Framework (2016–2030), available from
https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/dataset/?id=cambodian-sustainable-development-goalsframework-2016-2030.
7
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