RES/21/11 Guiding principles on extreme poverty and human rights

GE.General Assembly resolution 66/288. 2-17677

Human Rights Council Twenty-first 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 

21/11.

Guiding principles on extreme poverty and human rights

The Human Rights Council,

Recalling all relevant resolutions on extreme poverty and human rights adopted by the General Assembly, including resolution 65/214 of 21 December 2010,

Recalling also all previous resolutions adopted by the Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, including its resolution 2006/9 of 24 August 2006, in which the Subcommission welcomed and approved the draft guiding principles prepared by the ad hoc group of experts, and requested the Human Rights Council to study them with the view to adopting them and forwarding them to the General Assembly,

Recalling further all relevant Human Rights Council resolutions, including resolution 15/19 of 30 September 2010, in which the Council invited the independent expert on the question of human rights and extreme poverty to pursue further work on the draft guiding principles on extreme poverty and human rights with a view to submitting a final draft of the revised guiding principles to the Council at its twenty-first session, in order to allow the Council to take a decision on the way forward with a view to the adoption, by 2012, of guiding principles on the rights of persons living in extreme poverty, and resolution 17/13 of 17 June 2011, in which the Council decided to extend the mandate of the mandate holder as a special rapporteur,

Welcoming the submission of views and contributions of Member States and other relevant stakeholders on the draft guiding principles, including in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 12/19 of 2 October 2009 and 15/19, as well as the holding of different rounds of consultations on this matter between 2001 and 2012, the latest being the two-day consultation organized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on 22 and 23 June 2011,

 The resolutions and decisions adopted by the Human Rights Council will be contained in

the report of the Council on its twenty-first session (A/HRC/21/2), chap. I.

Expressing its appreciation to the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights for finalizing the draft guiding principles by integrating the views and contributions of Member States and other relevant stakeholders,

Reaffirming the commitments made at relevant United Nations conferences and summits, including those made at the Millennium Summit, at which Heads of State and Government committed themselves to eradicate extreme poverty and to halve, by 2015, the proportion of the world’s people whose income is less than one dollar a day and of those who suffer from hunger, and at the 2005 World Summit, and welcoming the conclusions of the summit on the Millennium Development Goals, held in New York from 20 to 22 September 2010,

Deeply concerned that extreme poverty and social exclusion persist in all countries of the world, regardless of their economic, social and cultural situation, and that its extent and manifestations are particularly severe in developing countries,

Acknowledging the need to continue national and international efforts, including through international cooperation to eradicate extreme poverty, in particular in the framework of the post-2015 development agenda, and taking note in this regard of the contribution of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) and of its outcome document “The future we want”,1

Stressing that respect for all human rights, including the right to development, is important for all policies and programmes that specifically address the situation of people living in extreme poverty,

1. Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights on the guiding principles on extreme poverty and human rights,A/HRC/21/39. and welcomes the work of the Special Rapporteur;

2. Adopts the guiding principles on extreme poverty and human rights as a useful tool for States in the formulation and implementation of poverty reduction and eradication policies, as appropriate;

3. Encourages Governments, relevant United Nations bodies, specialized agencies, funds and programmes, other intergovernmental organizations and national human rights institutions, as well as non-governmental organizations and non-State actors, including the private sector, to consider the guiding principles in the formulation and implementation of their policies and measures concerning persons affected by extreme poverty;

4. Requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to disseminate the guiding principles, as appropriate;

5. Decides to transmit the guiding principles on extreme poverty and human rights to the General Assembly for its consideration.

36th meeting

27 September 2012

[Adopted without a vote.]