A/HRC/40/29 assess the negative impact of evictions and the real costs of the loss of income and assets for the community and their impoverishment, and to bring this information to court or to use it to seek other means of redress.15 III. Empowering people 30. An essential aspect of a human rights-based approach to sustainable development is building the capacity of rights holders to claim their rights. Knowledge of human rights, including economic, social and cultural rights, enables individuals and communities to voice their views and opinions and to participate in decision-making processes that affect their lives. With this knowledge they can also better hold institutions accountable and seek justice and remedies when their rights are violated. A. Right to education 31. The importance of education, both as a right in itself and as a means for the enjoyment of other rights, has been highlighted in multiple contexts. Education is a critical factor in social mobility and accessing better employment opportunities. Education is also critical for the robust functioning of democratic institutions and empowering women against discrimination and is a determinant factor for health and nutrition. 32. Human rights instruments require that education be directed at enabling all persons to participate effectively in a free society, promoting understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations and all racial, ethnic or religious groups, and furthering the maintenance of peace. The Convention on the Rights of the Child adds to these aims the development of the child’s talents and mental and physical abilities and the development of respect for the child’s parents, cultural identity, language and values, the national values of the country where he or she lives and of his or her country of origin and for the natural environment.16 33. The right to education, therefore, has an impact on the enjoyment of other economic, social and cultural rights because of its enabling nature. It empowers and enables individuals to enjoy and exercise personal liberties and freedoms, to participate politically and exercise responsible political citizenship, to participate in the labour market and in economic activities and to enjoy and exercise social equality and the preservation of their culture. B. Rights to food, health, housing, water and sanitation 34. The well-being of individuals is a fundamental requisite for their empowerment. If a person is chronically malnourished or in ill-health, or forced to live in precarious environment without adequate housing, safe-drinking water and sanitation, he or she is caught in a vicious cycle of poverty, exclusion and disempowerment. With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, the international community stepped up its commitment and efforts, through the Sustainable Development Goals, to eradicate or significantly reduce poverty, hunger and malnutrition, and to improve health, housing, water and sanitation. 35. The 2016 report of the Secretary-General on economic, social and cultural rights (A/HRC/34/25) highlighted the linkages between economic, social and cultural rights and the Sustainable Development Goals framework as two converging agendas. As the Sustainable Development Goals effectively mirror the content of economic, social and cultural rights, including the need to ensure their availability, accessibility, acceptability 15 16 See OHCHR and UN-Habitat, Losing Your Home: Assessing the Impact of Eviction (Nairobi, 2011); and Assessing the Impact of Forced Eviction: Handbook (Nairobi, 2014). See International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, art. 13 (1); Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 29; and Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 1 (2001) on the aims of education. 9