A/HRC/36/23
the common good, recognizing that efforts to reduce towering inequalities would help the
marginalized and the poor.6
13.
In September, the President of the seventy-first session of the General Assembly
convened the high-level segment of the Assembly to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary
of the Declaration on the Right to Development. 7 The Secretary-General, the High
Commissioner and the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development participated in the opening segment, which was followed by a general debate
among Member States. The one-day event focused on the measures and policies required to
promote effective international cooperation for the realization of the right to development,
as well as the importance and added value of the right to development in achieving the
Sustainable Development Goals. The event provided an opportunity to discuss efforts to
fulfil the right to development and the importance of consensual understanding of the right
to development based on the experience, progress and challenges encountered in the last 30
years.
14.
In October, the Office organized, jointly with the Independent Permanent Human
Rights Commission of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Government of the
United Arab Emirates, a two-day international seminar entitled “The right to development
— 30 years after”, in Abu Dhabi. The Commission welcomed renewed reflection and joint
action by all stakeholders to ensure that all people had an equal opportunity to participate
in, contribute to and enjoy economic, social and cultural rights, thereby also supporting the
establishment of inclusive, equitable, just and peaceful societies. In the Abu Dhabi
Declaration on the Right to Development, 8 adopted at the seminar, participants reaffirmed
States’ national, international and collective obligations with respect to the effective
implementation of the right to development, and recalled the importance of international
cooperation against corruption and of good governance through free, active and meaningful
participation in policymaking.
15.
To mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Declaration, and in addition to the
international expert meeting held in Geneva in March (see A/HRC/33/31, para. 22),
OHCHR organized another such meeting in New York in October 2016. This event,
entitled “Development frontlines: of rights, justice and fairness”, served as an opportunity
to analyse contemporary development challenges and discuss how innovative development
solutions were being forged at varying levels and scales. It also addressed legitimacy and
accountability deficits in global governance and in the economic realm. 9
16.
OHCHR initiated and supported the issuance of two statements reaffirming the right
to development. In September, the United Nations Development Group Human Rights
Working Group issued a joint statement recognizing that, while the 2030 Agenda is a
powerful vehicle for the realization of the right to development, operationalizing its
commitment to leave no one behind demands a coherent and integrated United Nations
system-wide approach that is underpinned by the principles inherent in the Declaration. 10
17.
In December 2016, 16 special procedure mandate holders issued a joint statement in
which they called upon Governments to move rapidly beyond rhetoric and political
differences to make the right to development a reality for all. 11
18.
To advance awareness, develop the resource base and build capacity on the right to
development, OHCHR issued several anniversary information notes on the relationship
between the right to development and, respectively, international cooperation, indigenous
peoples, persons with disabilities, children and youth, peace, and taxation.12 Furthermore,
OHCHR produced a second anniversary video, The Right to Development for Everyone,
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
4
See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Development/Pages/PaneldiscussionPresentationsandstatements.aspx.
See http://sdg.iisd.org/events/unga-high-level-segment-on-the-right-to-development/.
See www.oic-iphrc.org/en/data/docs/articles_studies/iphrc_abu_dhabi_outcome_2016.pdf.
See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Development/Pages/PanelEventDeclarationontheRtoDat30.aspx; and
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Development/Pages/PanelEventDeclarationontheRtoDat30.aspx.
See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/RtD/UNDG_HRWG.pdf.
See www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20973.
Available at www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Development/Pages/InformationMaterials.aspx.
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