RES/15/25 The right to development

GE.A/HRC/15/23. 0-16770

Human Rights Council Fifteenth session Agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council*

15/25 The right to development

The Human Rights Council,

Recalling the Charter of the United Nations and the core human rights instruments,

Reaffirming the Declaration on the Right to Development, adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 41/128 of 4 December 1986,

Reaffirming also its resolutions 4/4 of 30 March 2007 and 9/3 of 17 September 2008, and recalling all Commission on Human Rights, Council and General Assembly resolutions on the right to development,

Recognizing the renewed commitments to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by their target date of 2015, as set out in the outcome document adopted at the High- level Plenary Meeting of the sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals,

Emphasizing the urgent need to make the right to development a reality for everyone,

Stressing the primary responsibility of States for the creation of national and international conditions favourable to the realization of the right to development,

Recalling that 2011 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development,

Expressing its appreciation for the efforts of the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group on the Right to Development and the members of the high-level task force

* The resolutions and decisions adopted by the Human Rights Council will be contained in the report of

the Council on its fifteenth session (A/HRC/15/60), chap. I.

on the implementation of the right to development in completing the 2008-2010 three-phase road map established by the Council in its resolution 4/4,

Taking note of the efforts under way in the framework of the Working Group on the Right to Development, with a view to completing the tasks entrusted to it by the Council in resolution 4/4,

1. Welcomes the report of the Working Group on the Right to Development;1

2. Takes note with appreciation of the efforts made by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights with regard to the promotion, mainstreaming and realization of the right to development, including the support provided to the Working Group;

3. Decides:

(a) To continue to act to ensure that its agenda promotes and advances sustainable development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and, in this regard, lead to raising the right to development, as set out in paragraphs 5 and 10 of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, to the same level and on a par with all other human rights and fundamental freedoms;

(b) To endorse the recommendations of the Working Group as outlined in paragraphs 45 to 47 of its report;

(c) To take note of the work of the high-level task force, including its consolidation of findings and the list of right to development criteria and corresponding operational sub-criteria;A/HRC/15/WG.2/TF/2 and Add.1 and 2.

(d) To request the Office of the High Commissioner to seek the views of States Members of the United Nations and relevant stakeholders on the work of the high-level task force and the way forward, taking into consideration the essential features of the right to development, using as reference the Declaration on the Right to Development and resolutions of the Commission on Human Rights, the Council and the General Assembly on the right to development;

(e) To request the Office of the High Commissioner to post on its website all written contributions by Member States and other stakeholders;

(f) To request the Chairperson/Rapporteur of the Working Group, assisted by the Office of the High Commissioner, to prepare two compilations of the submissions received from Governments, groups of Governments and regional groups, as well as the inputs received from other stakeholders, and to present both compilations to the Working Group at its twelfth session;

(g) That following the consideration by the Working Group of the above- mentioned compilations of views, the criteria and corresponding operational sub-criteria, mentioned in paragraph 3 (c) above, once considered, revised and endorsed by the Working Group, should be used, as appropriate, in the elaboration of a comprehensive and coherent set of standards for the implementation of the right to development;

(h) That the Working Group shall take appropriate steps to ensure respect for and practical application of the above-mentioned standards, which could take various forms, including guidelines on the implementation of the right to development, and evolve into a

basis for consideration of an international legal standard of a binding nature through a collaborative process of engagement;

(i) To request the Office of the High Commissioner, in consultation with States Members of the United Nations and other relevant stakeholders, to launch preparations for the commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development;

(j) To request the Office of the High Commissioner to continue to take all necessary measures and to allocate adequate resources for the effective implementation of the present resolution;

4. Also decides to review the progress of the implementation of the present resolution as a matter of priority at its future sessions.

34th meeting 1 October 2010

[Adopted by a recorded vote of 45 in favour, none against, and 1 abstention.

The voting was as follows:

In favour: Angola, Argentina, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, China, Cuba, Djibouti, Ecuador, France, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Hungary, Japan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Zambia

Abstention: United States of America]