Human rights in the post-2015 development agenda
In an open letter to the UN Secretary General, more than 100 National Human Rights Institutions world-wide endorse ten essential elements for ensuring that human rights principles are reflected in the post-2015 Development Agenda.
- States have been reluctant to recognize the link between human rights and development. It is remarkable that a global body of independent state institutions are now actively calling for a development agenda that recognizes human rights as both a means and an end of sustainable development, says Allan Lerberg Jørgensen, director of the Human Rights and Development department at the Danish Institute for Human Rights.
The coming year offers a crucial opportunity to advance human rights based sustainable development in the finalisation of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. National Human Rights Institutions can be strong and legitimate independent actors to promote and protect human rights and give practical effect to development commitments.
- Negotiations on the Post-2015 Development Agenda are entering their final year. A draft set of Sustainable Development Goals is now in circulation. The goals and their implementation will have significant impact on the global environment for human rights for decades to come, says Allan Lerberg Jørgensen.
Integrate human rights standards and principles into both process
and substance
Address both sides of human dignity: freedom from fear and
freedom from want
Underpin the imperative of equality
Clear place for marginalised, disempowered and excluded
groups
Include commitments to end poverty
Advance a healthy environment, as an underlying determinant of
human rights
Advance international reform to ensure human rights coherence at
the international level
Make it universally applicable
Include a strong accountability framework
Extend to actors in the private sphere