UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré>
On the Role of UN Human Rights Mechanisms in Monitoring the SDGs that Seek to Realize Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
30 June 2020
Many of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their 169 SDG targets aim to contribute to the realization of economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR), and the commitments to leave no one behind and to achieve gender equality can give concrete meaning to the human rights principles of equality and non-discrimination.
United Nations (UN) human rights mechanisms – with their unique expertise in monitoring the realization of ESCR, promoting equality and non-discrimination, and pushing for the adoption of laws, policies and programmes that target the most vulnerable or those who are left behind – can provide guidance in the implementation of the SDGs, as well as a much-needed accountability framework.
ILO Asia and Pacific
Our new Practical Manual precisely outlines the role of UN human rights mechanisms – UN Treaty Bodies, the UN Human Rights Council and UN Special Procedures – in monitoring the SDGs that seek to realize ESCR.
‘Via more than 20 examples of best practices, and direct link to more than 100 UN documents, we show how UN human rights mechanisms can transform the beneficiaries of the laws, policies and programmes implemented to achieve the SDGs into rights-holders’ explains, Dr Christophe Golay, Senior Research Fellow and Strategic Adviser on ESCR at the Geneva Academy and author of the Manual.
‘We have ten years left to implement the SDGs and we know that this cannot be done without fully integrating human rights norms and monitoring mechanisms in implementation strategies. UN human rights mechanisms must therefore play a central role and are also key to ensure participation, accountability, non-discrimination, transparency, human dignity, empowerment, the rule of law and solidarity in the implementation of the SDGs’ he adds.
UNDP
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré
CCPR Centre
Participants to the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development’s session in July 2020 can use this practical manual. A launch event with experts and practitioners will be organized in September 2020 to discuss the content of the manual and steps that UN human rights mechanisms can take in the upcoming ten years to monitor the implementation of the SDGs and the full realization of ESCR.
UN>
This Practical Manual builds on our publication No One Will Be Left Behind that looked at the role of UN human rights mechanisms in monitoring the SDGs that seek to realize ESCR. A shorter Research Brief provides a summary of this publication’s findings and recommendations.
A dedicated Training Course on ESCR and the SDGs will take place in Geneva and online from 7 to 11 September 2020. It will explore the relationship between ESCR and SDGs and provide participants with practical tools to include ESCR and the SDGs in their work. Few seats are still available for interested candidates.
Geneva Academy
Geneva Academy
Global Torture Index
Via its DHRTTDs Directory, the Geneva Human Rights Platform provides a comprehensive list and description of such key tools and databases. But how to navigate them? Which tool should be used for what, and by whom? This interview helps us understand better the specificities of the current highlight of the directory: Global Torture Index
Geneva Academy
The Geneva Academy’s latest publication explores how cities, municipalities, and regional authorities are becoming key players in global human rights governance.
Adobe
This training course, specifically designed for staff of city and regional governments, will explore the means and mechanisms through which local and regional governments can interact with and integrate the recommendations of international human rights bodies in their concrete work at the local level.
ICRC
Participants in this training course will gain practical insights into UN human rights mechanisms and their role in environmental protection and learn about how to address the interplay between international human rights and environmental law, and explore environmental litigation paths.
UN Photo / Jean-Marc Ferré
A series of events aimed at discussing contemporary issues and challenges related to the promotion and protection of human rights in Geneva and beyond.
Paolo Margari
This research aims at mainstreaming the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment and the protection it affords in the work of the UN Human Rights Council, its Special Procedures and Universal Periodic Review, as well as in the work of the UN General Assembly and UN treaty bodies.