RES/31/4 Commemoration of the thirtieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development

Human Rights Council Thirty-first session

Agenda item 3

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 23 March 2016

31/4. Commemoration of the thirtieth anniversary of the

Declaration on 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 all Commission on Human Rights, Human Rights Council and

General Assembly resolutions on the right to development, the most recent being Council

resolution 30/28 of 2 October 2015,

Emphasizing that all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to

development, are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated,

Emphasizing also the urgent need to make the right to development a reality for

everyone,

Welcoming the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,1

reaffirming that the Declaration on the Right to Development informed the 2030 Agenda,

along with other relevant international instruments, and underlining the fact that the

Sustainable Development Goals can be realized only through a credible, effective and

universal commitment to the means of implementation by all stakeholders,

Emphasizing that the right to development should be central to the implementation

of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,

Encouraging relevant bodies of the United Nations system, within their respective

mandates, including United Nations funds, programmes and specialized agencies, relevant

international organizations, including the World Trade Organization and relevant

stakeholders, including civil society organizations, to give due consideration to the right to

development in the implementation of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and to

1 General Assembly resolution 70/1.

United Nations A/HRC/RES/31/4

cooperate with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the fulfilment

of his mandate with regard to the implementation of the right to development,

Recognizing that Member States should cooperate with each other in ensuring

development and eliminating lasting obstacles to development, that the international

community should promote effective international cooperation, in particular a global

partnership for development, for the realization of the right to development and the

elimination of obstacles to development, and that lasting progress towards the

implementation of the right to development requires effective development policies at the

national level, as well as equitable economic relations and a favourable economic

environment at the international level,

Stressing that, in General Assembly resolution 48/141 of 20 December 1993, the

Assembly decided that the responsibility of the High Commissioner shall be, among others,

to promote and protect the realization of the right to development and to enhance support

from relevant bodies of the United Nations system for that purpose,

Welcoming the contribution of the universal periodic review mechanism to the

realization of the right to development,

Recalling that the thirtieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to

Development presents a unique opportunity for the international community to demonstrate

and reiterate its unequivocal commitment to the right to development, recognizing the high

profile it deserves, and redoubling its efforts to implement this right, and encouraging

Member States to convene, individually and collectively, events with their own resources

for the commemoration of the thirtieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to

Development,

Welcoming the decision of the General Assembly to convene a one-day high-level

segment of the Assembly, in the margins of the general debate of the Assembly at its

seventy-first session, in order to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the Declaration

on the Right to Development,2

1. Welcomes the thirtieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to

Development, and stresses the importance of the mandate of the United Nations High

Commissioner for Human Rights with regard to the promotion and protection of the

realization of the right to development, while fully recognizing its distinct nature and

intrinsic value;

2. Acknowledges the work of the High Commissioner for the commemoration of

the thirtieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development, and notes with

interest the factsheet published thereon in January 2016;3

3. Decides to convene, at its thirty-second session, a panel discussion on the

promotion and protection of the right to development as part of the celebrations of the

thirtieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development;

4. Invites the High Commissioner to liaise with States and all stakeholders,

including relevant United Nations bodies, agencies, funds and programmes, treaty bodies,

special procedure mandate holders, national human rights institutions and civil society, with

a view to ensuring their participation in the panel discussion;

5. Requests the High Commissioner to prepare a summary report on the panel

discussion and to submit it to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-third session, and

2 See General Assembly resolution 70/155.

3 Fact Sheet No. 37: Frequently Asked Questions on the Right to Development.

decides to bring the report to the attention of the General Assembly ahead of the high-level

segment to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to

Development;

6. Encourages all Member States to engage constructively in all discussions for

the full implementation of the Declaration on the Right to Development.

62nd meeting

23March 2016

[Adopted by a recorded vote of 34 to 0, with 13 abstentions. The voting was as follows:

In favour:

Algeria, Bangladesh, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Botswana, Burundi,

China, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Ghana,

India, Indonesia, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Mexico, Mongolia,

Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Qatar, Russian

Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Togo, United Arab Emirates,

Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Viet Nam

Abstaining:

Albania, Belgium, France, Georgia, Germany, Latvia, Netherlands, Portugal,

Republic of Korea, Slovenia, Switzerland, the former Yugoslav Republic of

Macedonia, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland]