A/HRC/43/33 21. The publicly available analytical platforms that directly linked human rights conventions with the Sustainable Development Goals and their targets and indicators could infuse the universal periodic review with new content. Combining the review recommendations with the Cooperation Framework would give country teams a more effective platform for promoting human rights. The internal system-wide coordination mechanisms of the United Nations had created new opportunities to bring human rights, the principle of leaving no one behind and the Sustainable Development Goals closer together. 22. In conclusion, he said that at the core of the reform was the aim of significantly lifting the capacity of the United Nations system to meet the requirements and the ambition of the Sustainable Development Goals and thereby increase the relevance of the United Nations and its capacity to promote human rights globally. 23. The Chair concluded the opening session by highlighting the opportunities raised by the speakers for accelerating implementation of the Goals through stronger synergies with human rights. B. Reflections and conversation on human rights and accelerated action and transformative pathways: realizing the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development 24. The Director of the SDG Lab opened the second session by asking the five panellists how they saw the promotion and protection of human rights as an accelerator for the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals. 25. The Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs recalled that the 2030 Agenda put sustainable development at the centre of the work of the United Nations. The Agenda was grounded in human rights, and promotion of sustainable development was the best investment for peaceful and prosperous societies. The integrated nature of the 2030 Agenda and human rights called for a more coherent approach across the various pillars of the United Nations, covering peace, development and human rights. There was much in common between the Sustainable Development Goals and human rights obligations. For instance, a number of economic, social and cultural rights were included as Goals, and Goal 16 covered several dimensions of civil and political rights. 26. She stressed the importance of the fact that the political declaration of the high-level political forum in September 2019 had been adopted unanimously. In the declaration, the Member States had stressed their unanimous resolve to respect, protect and fulfil human rights. Notwithstanding considerable progress in the implementation of the Goals, the world was not on track to achieve them by 2030. Urgent action therefore needed to be taken by Member States and the United Nations. 27. Referring to the 10 cross-cutting areas of action in the political declaration, she said that the commitment to leave no one behind was clearly an entry point for promoting human rights, and included an explicit commitment to targeted and accelerated action to remove all legal, social and economic barriers to achieve gender equality and empowerment of women and girls. Strengthening institutions to make them more effective and accountable was important to empower marginalized people to claim their rights, and ensuring more participatory and representative decision-making processes was key to building trust and leaving no one behind. People must be at the centre of all action. 28. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children noted that violence against children was a worldwide problem. All forms of violence and underlying factors needed to be tackled, a task that required all 17 Sustainable Development Goals to be addressed. The Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Goals were interlinked and indivisible. It was important to switch to a systemic and comprehensive child rights-based and gender-based approach to ensure greater protection and empowerment of children. 29. She added that a human rights-based and child rights-based approach would accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals: if children were considered as actors and drivers of change, projects would be more effective, particularly at the grass-roots level. Clear accountability regarding who was doing what was essential to a successful multi-stakeholder approach. 5