A/HRC/43/33
the Human Rights Council for holding the intersessional meetings as a way to promote
knowledge and exchange with the forum. In July 2019, the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights had presented the Council’s contribution to the forum, an
exchange of knowledge that was vital and must be continued.
39.
Member States should make better use of the reporting processes in which they were
involved. For example, the universal periodic review could help with the preparation of the
voluntary national reviews and vice versa. Although the objectives and modalities of the
two reviews were different, they had many complementarities. The Secretary-General, in
his guidelines for voluntary national reviews, explicitly encouraged States to coordinate
reporting processes, including for human rights. 8
40.
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children
noted the importance of moving from a reactive to a proactive approach in breaking down
silos and identifying incentives for cross-sectoral collaboration, not only in terms of child
protection but also in other areas. A human rights-based approach meant having the
population at the centre of policy, which required a reliable picture of the national and
grass-roots levels. In order not to leave anyone behind, disaggregated data was required to
determine who was at risk and therefore who needed to be reached. It was useful to have a
repository of all of the data collected by many actors, to avoid repetition and ensure a more
comprehensive information system.
41.
She emphasized the importance of indicators and accountability mechanisms and
noted the need for a more comprehensive assessment of exactly what was to be measured.
42.
Addressing systemic challenges in Afghanistan, Ms. Samar spoke about the work of
the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission to promote the implementation of
the Sustainable Development Goals. She highlighted the importance of justice and
accountability, both in her country and in every other country. Human rights and the
Sustainable Development Goals should be a reality for people on the ground and not just
paper exercises in the universal periodic review and voluntary national review mechanisms,
as people had the right to live with dignity.
43.
Ms. Fukuda-Parr reiterated that the human rights principles of equality and
participation were at the core of the transformative agenda. Equality must be embedded in
macroeconomic policy and in policies for productive employment creation. Embedding
human rights principles into an economic and social development model was essential to a
transformative agenda.
44.
Mr. Muchena called for civil society, Governments and institutions to come together
to reflect the growing convergence of economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights in
relation to the Sustainable Development Goals. As an example of that convergence, he
referred to a case in Eswatini in which a judge had relied on the Goals in his refusal to grant
an eviction order. Unfortunately, that case was not well known outside Eswatini.
45.
In the interventions from the floor,9 several delegations welcomed the fact that the
second intersessional meeting was being held and reaffirmed the indivisible and mutually
reinforcing relationship between human rights and the Sustainable Development Goals. The
principle of leaving no one behind was mentioned frequently as a guiding principle to
realize the 2030 Agenda. Encouragement and commitment were expressed with respect to
accelerating implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
46.
Numerous States affirmed the value of integrating the relationship between human
rights and the Sustainable Development Goals into policies, plans and activities, and spoke
8
9
Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the Secretariat, Handbook for the Preparation of
Voluntary National Reviews: The 2019 Edition (New York, 2018), annex II.
Azerbaijan on behalf of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, European Union, Colombia,
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Islamic Republic of Iran, Philippines, Angola
on behalf of the Group of African States, Pakistan, Australia, India, Montenegro, China, South Africa,
Bahamas, Sweden, Egypt, Netherlands, Norway, Council of Europe, United Nations Entity for
Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), CIVICUS: World Alliance for
Citizen Participation, Child Rights Connect and Associazione Comunità Papa Giovanni XXIII made
statements. Some of the statements are available at www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/
SecondIntersessionalMeeting2030Agenda.aspx.
7
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