60th session of the Human Rights Council
Item 3: Interactive dialogue with the Expert Mechanism on the right to development
Statement by Action Canada for Population and Development
Wednesday 10 September
Thank you, President.
Action Canada makes this statement on behalf of the Sexual Rights Initiative, AWID, Feminist Diplomacy Lab, ILGA World and the Women’s Major Group.
We welcome the Expert Mechanism’s comprehensive annual report, which clearly articulates why a people-centered and human rights approach to the right to development is necessary to address current global crises .
This report comes at a time when there are question marks on global solidarity because of shrinking international development cooperation, unfulfilled financial pledges, unfair trade practices and unequal trade policies between countries, unilateral coercive measures, denial of meaningful participation of all people in global processes, scant concerns for biodiversity and climate change, and economic systems that continue to facilitate genocide and occupation
A solid people-centered approach to the right to development must challenge the dominant global economic paradigm and definition of economic growth, prioritise resource distribution within and between states. The Expert Mechanisms’ recognition of collective rights and responsibilities and systemic violations of human rights of people subjected to colonialism, as well as insistence upon accountability for international development policies, places them in a unique position to do so.
Ten years after the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, and almost 40 years after the Declaration on the Right to Development, we urge States to take overdue actions for the full realization of the right to development.
In conclusion, we ask what the role of the Expert Mechanism may be in the context of the UN80 Initiative, especially since achieving the right to development appears increasingly out of reach.
Thank you.