A/HRC/37/36
33.
The Deputy High Commissioner stated that positive change was also within reach,
as the 2030 Agenda opened up an unprecedented opportunity to advance and realize human
rights for all, leaving no one behind. Building on that unique opportunity, she introduced
the report of the High-level Working Group on the Health and Human Rights of Women,
Children and Adolescents, launched at the World Health Assembly in May 2017. The Highlevel Working Group was established by the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the
Director-General of WHO and its report built on the Global Strategy for Women’s,
Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016–2030).
34.
Introducing the key recommendations in the report, the Deputy High Commissioner
stated that the High-level Working Group urged greater leadership in an integrated health
and human rights agenda and the creation of an enabling environment for the realization of
the rights to and through health. To achieve this, the High-level Working Group
recommended that the right to health be enshrined in law; that health financing be humanrights based; that human rights, including equality, be understood as a key determinant of
health; and that social and cultural norms that curtail the right to health be challenged and
removed. The High-level Working Group further urged partnering with people themselves
as agents for their own health and called for people to be supported to claim their rights; for
health workers and others upholding human rights to be protected and defended; and for
health laws and policies to be accountable to the people and for the people. It also called for
strengthening evidence-based public accountability to rights holders and called upon States
to invest in more comprehensive and inclusive data collection and to report regularly on the
progress made to the World Health Assembly and the Human Rights Council, underlining
the need for increasing cooperation between the two bodies.
35.
The Deputy High Commissioner noted that the recommendations of the High-level
Working Group had led to unprecedented discussions on the rights to and through health,
with States committing themselves to advancing in that area. Nevertheless, she pointed out
that the gap between promises and delivery could only be filled by strong leadership in
Governments, civil society, the private sector and traditional and faith leaders. She called
for vocal champions on the right to and through health and emphasized the urgency of
addressing this challenge in order to ensure that the fruits of development were equitably
shared and that nobody was left behind.
36.
The Deputy High Commissioner concluded by noting the commitment of the High
Commissioner and his Office to collaborating with WHO on the implementation of the
findings of the report in order to support States in this area. She reaffirmed that the world
knew what had to be done in this area and why it was required, and that the only thing
needed was the conviction amongst leaders that investment in this was indispensable for the
future of all.
B.
Overview of presentations
37.
The panel moderator noted that the panel would discuss the synergies between
Sustainable Development Goal 3 on ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all
at all ages and Goal 5 on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls.
The discussion intended to secure political support at both national and international levels
for implementing human rights measures, as required by the Global Strategy for Women’s,
Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016–2030). She pointed out that the right to health
enshrined in article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights referred to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, but that the
report of the High-level Working Group referred not only to the right to health, but to the
rights both to and through health. This meant that the right to health was not autonomous,
but was in fact indivisible from other human rights. Without good health, one could not
pursue other human rights, while health could not be attained or upheld without the inherent
dignity provided by other human rights.
38.
The moderator further emphasized the importance of encouraging both national and
international leadership in order to realize the rights to and through health. With or without
resources, wise and progressive leadership could address inequities in health outcomes,
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