‘Human rights are intrinsic to the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals and meeting the promise of leaving no one behind.‘
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres
As the world reached the halfway point along its journey to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, late last year (18-19 September) heads of State and ministers gathered at the four-yearly SDG Summit in New York, to take stock of progress. They were not presented with a very positive picture. Since the 2030 Agenda was signed in 2015, and amid pressing global challenges such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the aftermath of the Covid 19 pandemic, and the increasingly tangible climate crisis, leaders were informed that a mere 12% of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are on track to be met, or, as the newest Global Sustainable Development Report (2023) puts it, progress with the 2030 Agenda is characterised by ‘stagnation in the face of multiple crises.’ What can be done to accelerate progress? That is principally a question for leaders of UN member States represented at the Summit. But it is also a question for the UN, and especially its development system, which must necessarily play a key role in helping developing countries, especially LDCs and SIDS, to make progress across the SDGs. A key opportunity (since the Summit) to consider that question, and introduce the necessary reforms to the UN development system so that the world stands at least a chance of achieving the SDGs leaving no on behind by 2030, will come this autumn when the UN General Assembly will conduct its ‘quadrennial comprehensive policy review’ (QCPR) of the operational activities for development of the UN system. The QCPR is the main mechanism through which the General Assembly (GA) assesses the effectiveness, efficiency, coherence, and impact of the full range of the UN system’s operational activities for development, as well as the extent to which they are responding to the development needs and priorities of countries. Following this, the GA, bearing in mind lessons learnt and new challenges, then provides a vision and blueprint for reform and improvement, addressing the normative as well as practical aspects of its development activities. This is done through the negotiation of GA resolution, which will define and guide the UN system’s strategy and actions towards the achievement of the SDGs over the next four years. The first QCPR resolution was adopted by the GA in 2012, followed by a resolution in 2016, and the most recent one in 2020 (against the backdrop of the COVID pandemic). Prior to that, comprehensive policy reviews were conducted on a triennial basis (until 2007). The substantive basis of each QCPR and their outcome resolutions, are reports of the UN Secretary-General on the implementation of the previous resolution. The negotiation of QCPR resolutions has historically been chaired by the Permanent Mission of Switzerland, in collaboration with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA). Human Rights in the QCPR In 2007, the comprehensive policy review resolution 62/208 adopted by the GA recognised that development and human rights are ‘interlinked and mutually reinforcing.’ This was reaffirmed in QCPR resolution 67/226 (2012). The resolution adopted at the end of the 2016 QCPR (resolution 71/243), noted the contribution of the UN development system ‘in supporting government efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, based on full respect for human rights, including the right to development.’ In truth, these references to human rights were both vague and declaratory, rather than operational. This weakness was in part addressed in the most recently-adopted (2020) QCPR resolution, (resolution 75/233), which, in addition to reiterating the above-mentioned normative linkages between human rights and development, also introduced a new operative paragraph 28. With this paragraph, the GA called ‘upon all entities of the UN development system, in accordance with their respective mandates, to assist Governments upon their request and in consultation with them, in their efforts to respect and fulfil their human rights obligations and commitments under international law, as a critical tool to operationalise the pledge to leave no one behind.’ This was a hugely significant addition, providing the basis of our contemporary understanding of a ‘human rights-based approach to development,’ based on a call for all UN agencies and programmes to assist governments with the implementation of their international human rights obligations and commitments, via support for the implementation of recommendations extended by the UN human rights mechanisms (UPR, Treaty Bodies, and Special Procedures). It has formed the basis, for example, of recent URG projects with UNICEF, UNFPA, UNEP, and now UN Women, to measure and promote the integration of UN human rights recommendations into UN entity country programming documents (CPD). The inclusion of this provision in the 2020 QCPR resolution can be better understood in the context of the UN Secretary-General’s Call to Action for Human Rights adopted earlier that year, which categorically recognised that human rights are at the core of sustainable development, and especially of the promise to leave no one behind. In that regard, the Secretary-General called upon the UN to support member States to ensure human rights principles inform the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, encourage the full use of the UN human rights mechanisms to contribute to the implementation of the SDGs, and support member States make better use of recommendations extended by the mechanisms in national development decision-making. The 2020 resolution was adopted by a recorded vote of 182-0-1 (the Russian Federation voted against), in a departure from previous QCPR resolutions which were adopted by consensus. It is worth mentioning that several member States did not wholeheartedly support the inclusion of the new human rights language in the 2020 resolution. For instance, in their explanation of position, the G77 and China, while reaffirming the bloc’s general support for the resolution, did nevertheless voice their concern about the inclusion of human rights and other issues which, they said, lie beyond the scope of the QCPR resolution. Similar concerns were echoed by other member States in separate statements. Notwithstanding these concerns, the UN development system has responded by supporting governments in upholding their human rights obligations and commitments in various ways including through direct programming, support, and coordinated inter-agency processes such as the UN Inter-Agency Network on Human Rights, Leave No One Behind, and Sustainable Development, to provide targeted support, advice, tools, and capacity building to UN Country Teams (UNCTs). The Secretary-General, in his recent report on the implementation of the 2020 QCPR resolution, noted that the UN development system entities have proven to be vital partners for governments, and has noted a consistently high-level of satisfaction amongst governments with UN support. Specifically, according to the Secretary-General, 82% of governments affirmed that UNCTs adequately supported them in fulfilling their human rights obligations, and 80% of Resident Coordinators reported that governments sought policy advice on human rights. However, the Secretary-General also identified a need for further action, including additional support to fully translate the pledge to ‘leave no one behind’ into action. At the 2023 SDG Summit, the international community recommitted to revitalise action on the 2030 Agenda, accelerate implementation of the SDGs, and draw on the UN development system to support these efforts. In that regard, the 2024 QCPR provides a vital opportunity: an opportunity to further leverage the international human rights system to re-energise progress towards the achievement of the SDGs leaving no one behind. The language and vision set out in operative paragraph 28 of the 2020 resolution must at least be reaffirmed, and should ideally be further built upon. As noted above, several UN agencies and programmes have done outstanding and impactful work since 2020, designed to leverage State engagement with the UN human rights mechanisms, including through support for the implementation of recommendations, to catalyse further and deeper progress towards the SDGs leaving no one behind. The General Assembly should recognise and further encourage such efforts, if the international community is to retain a realistic hope that it can meet the goals, targets, and principles set out in the 2030 Agenda. Image Credits: Keld Navntoft 2018 via Flickr
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