A/HRC/45/15 II. Financing for development and the right to development A. Introduction 6. The Special Rapporteur on the right to development is mandated to examine the intersection of financing for development and the right to development, pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 33/14.1 In paragraph 2 of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, States committed to carry out a threefold task: to follow up on commitments and assess the progress made in the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus and the Doha Declaration; to further strengthen the framework to finance sustainable development and the means of implementation for the universal post-2015 development agenda; and to reinvigorate and strengthen the financing for development follow-up process to ensure that the actions to which they had committed were implemented and reviewed in an appropriate, inclusive, timely and transparent manner. 7. The Special Rapporteur recalls his finding that individuals and communities must drive the processes for their own development, which has implications for how development is financed (A/HRC/42/38, para. 11). For the purposes of the present report, the Special Rapporteur will look into the ways that States have engaged in the above tasks in their national efforts to further strengthen the framework to finance sustainable development and the means of implementation for the universal post-2015 development agenda. He aims to assess stakeholders’ integration of the right to development into national-level financing for development practices. He expands upon his previous work on the practical implementation of the right to development and compiles good practices from States, national development institutions and non-governmental organizations. The Special Rapporteur also reviews challenges that stakeholders face, and makes practicable recommendations on integrating a right-to-development-based perspective into financing for development. 8. For the purposes of the present report, the Special Rapporteur refers to financing for development as encompassing domestic and international financial flows, such as domestic fiscal revenues, public development aid, remittances, foreign direct investment and external debt.2 The Special Rapporteur notes that foreign debt issues are an integral part of financing for development. However, in the present report, the Special Rapporteur will not focus on this subject area since in that regard he refers to the work of the Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights. 9. The Special Rapporteur expresses grave concern about the worldwide effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and has called on States to leave no one behind in their responses to the crisis.3 The Special Rapporteur also recognizes the profound impact that the pandemic will have on financing for development, and will examine these effects from the perspective of the right to development in his forthcoming report to the General Assembly. 10. The present report expands upon the Special Rapporteur’s guidelines on the practical implementation of the right to development, which he presented to the Human Rights Council in September 2019, and the recommendations they contain. The guidelines emerged from the regional consultations that the Special Rapporteur conducted in 2018 and 2019, as mandated by the Human Rights Council in resolution 36/9.4 The consultations brought together diverse participants from around the world who identified good practices in designing, implementing, monitoring and assessing policies and programmes that contributed to the realization of the right to development. 1 2 3 4 See also “United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to development: an introduction to the mandate” (2017). The Special Rapporteur notes other sources of financing, such as philanthropy. Due to time and space limitations, he has focused on the above-mentioned types. OHCHR, “‘Leave no one behind’ – don’t forget your commitments in your response to the COVID19 crises, UN expert urges States”, news release (9 April 2020). Available at www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25786&LangID=E. See also www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Development/SRDevelopment/Pages/RegionalConsultation.aspx. 3