A/HRC/19/74
on ―constructive dialogue‖ and ―participation‖. What is more, the idea can be implicit,
without the word ―cooperation‖ actually being used, when the intention is to harness the
efforts of all stakeholders. Of particular relevance in this regard is the work carried out in
parallel by the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee on the promotion of a
democratic and equitable international order, pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution
8/5, and on human rights and international solidarity, pursuant to Human Rights Council
resolutions 9/2, 12/9 and 15/3, and by the Independent Expert on human rights and
international solidarity.
27.
While it may be too soon to set up a typology, a systematic framework should be
developed that will allow all the parameters involved to be taken into consideration. Only
then will it be possible to envisage a dynamic, rather than static, approach to the issue with
a view to identifying best practices for enhancing international cooperation in the area of
human rights. These best practices are identified and disseminated through visits by
experts, as well as through studies and reports. The universal periodic review, forums and
other platforms for exchanging information at the national, regional and international
levels, also provide a vehicle for their dissemination.
A.
The many facets of international cooperation
(a)
The subjects of international cooperation
28.
The first parameter to consider is the wide variety of actors involved. In the first
instance, within the framework of the Charter of the United Nations of 1945, international
cooperation is to be interpreted as referring to the obligations of Member States vis-à-vis
the Organization and, as a corollary, to the relations between States. It is where inter-State
law and the legal tenets of the Organization meet. This approach makes sense inasmuch as
the Organization is itself a cooperative venture, with States acting with a common purpose
in the framework of the Charter of the United Nations. In this sense, cooperation is a ―duty‖
requiring Member States, by virtue of their status as such, to act as peace-loving nations
that ―accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and ... are able and willing to
carry out these obligations‖ (Charter, Art. 4, para. 1). At this level of principle, cooperation
is not a mere political gesture of goodwill, but a legal imperative of good faith. There is a
close link between the duty to cooperate and the commitment to honour in good faith the
obligations entered into under the Charter, as also stated in the 1970 Declaration referred to
above.
29.
At this first level, the concept concerns not only all the organizations of the United
Nations family, including its financial institutions, but also other international and regional
organizations. The existence of this diverse array of international organizations necessarily
entails cooperative efforts among them and among their various agencies and mechanisms.
International organizations and Member States cooperate on various levels in line with the
objectives of consistency, synergy and effectiveness. The term ―multi-multilateralism‖
highlights the difficulties involved in such an undertaking, since so many institutional and
sociological factors come into play.
30.
Besides this supranational dimension, cooperation also involves States and groups of
States, whether on a bilateral or a multilateral basis. This is where work to identify best
practices would be the most useful. However, as noted earlier, public cooperation has itself
become more diverse, as the decentralization of cooperation arrangements has shifted the
emphasis towards local authorities or parliamentary diplomacy based on cooperation
between national parliaments.
31.
National human rights institutions are a third type of stakeholder that should be
recognized as a category in their own right, located as they are at the intersection between
10
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents