By H E N R Y KOH (Intern with United Nations Human Rights, Asia Pacific, Bangkok office – Since 2015)
*A perspective focusing on the
UN’s latest SDG goals and how the goals can be achieved by strengthening human
rights structures/institutions
Intro:
- Human rights are essential
to achieve sustainable development. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
served as a proxy for certain economic and social rights but ignored other
important human rights linkages. By contrast, human rights principles and standards
are now strongly reflected in an ambitious new global development framework,
the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
- The new Agenda that was presented during the 2015 UN General
Assembly covers a broad set of 17 Sustainable
Development Goals
(SDGs) and 167 targets and will serve as the overall framework to guide global
and national development action for the next 15 years.
-The SDGs are the result of
the most consultative and inclusive process in the history of the United
Nations. Grounded in international human rights law, the agenda offers critical
opportunities to further advance the realization of human rights for all people
everywhere, without discrimination.
Relation
between the SDGs & Human Rights:
1. The new agenda is guided
by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, including
full respect for international law; grounded in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, international human rights treaties, the Millennium Declaration
and the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document. It is informed by other instruments
such as the Declaration on the Right to Development.
2. Taking a look at some of
the 17 SDGs (human rights issues at stake):
·
Achieve
gender equality and empower all women. End harmful practices to girls at a
young age such as forced early marriage and female genital mutilation.
·
Ending
poverty & hunger
·
Ensuring
healthy lives for all age groups. By 2030, the World Health Organization aims
to end the epidemic of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria
·
Ensuring
inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning
opportunities for all
·
Reduce
inequality within and among countries
·
Promote
peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to
justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at
all levels
3. The SGDs resolution agenda
is a universal agenda. This means it
is applicable to all state members, including Malaysia. Looking back at the
highlights of the SDGs mentioned earlier, they are difficult to be implemented
without a sustainable and effective human rights mechanism in every nation. This
includes a well-structured and vocal National Human Rights Institution, active
NGOs, CSOs and human rights defenders. Eg: COMANGO can be a good and strong
coalition body for all rights groups.
4. State government’s
participation and the granting of adequate autonomy to the various human rights
institutions and defenders are important to allow them to have the access to
monitor without fear. Human rights institution works like ‘watch-dog’ and
inquiry body over any human rights violations. However, certain laws curtailing
freedom of expression make it hard for these institutions to fully carry out
their duties and mandates.
5. When human rights
institutions have limited access on what they cannot interfere, it is most
likely to affect the monitoring process of the progress of the SDGs. In aiming
to reach the goals within the desired period, in the context of UN’s SDGs
resolution agenda; year 2030, an active and progressive network of rights
groups or institutions across one’s nation is definitely vital.
6. Among the SGDs that were
highlighted earlier, all of them are linked back to basic human rights, which
are unfortunately neglected or violated even in this age that we are living in.
To achieve that, it will depend on the creation of a strong ‘follow-up and review’
framework to ensure that SDG commitments are met. The follow up and review
architecture, at national, regional and global levels should be universal,
participatory, and transparent. It must ensure accountability of all relevant
actors including the private sector, and track that ‘no one is being left
behind’ by monitoring progress with data fully disaggregated by population
groups. The framework should be evidence based, on the basis of a data
revolution underpinned by human rights.
7. A good mechanism that the
UN has been using to ensure a global participation among its member states
towards making the SDGs(which are deeply rooted with human rights issues) is
the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review(UPR). The UPR takes
place every 5 years(for example Malaysia’s latest UPR was in 2013 and the
upcoming review in 2018). The objectives of the UPR are to assess progress and
constraints in implementation on the basis of constructive dialogue among the
UN and state members. The global country review process will also be important
in providing a unique opportunity to discuss global “means of implementation”
commitments.
8. The national reviews of
SDG progress should also integrate reports and recommendations from the
existing human rights review processes in which States already participate.
They should incorporate information from existing national mechanisms for
oversight and review on matters related to the SDGs, including the parliament
or other legitimate decision-making body, National Human Rights Institutions
(NHRIs) and standing national reporting and coordination mechanisms for human
rights. At a national level, the role of rights groups could make a great
impact towards a good UPR, which directly goes hand in hand with having a
progressive level of human rights in a particular nation. We have to always
remember the wise words of Gandhi that is known to many of us, “change begins
with oneself”. This notion has so much truth in it. A turning point or good
revolution in a nation’s human rights development depends on the mindset of the
people. What we do and what will we encourage others to do could change to
bring a positive resolution process of the SDGs which will eventually improve
the human rights issues that are still plaguing one’s nation.
**Human rights can continue to
exist without the SDGs, but the SDGs cannot exist without human rights
principles.
Views shared at the Proham Human Rights Day Speech contest among law students where Hery shared his views prior to the start of the contest. Dec 8, 2015 at BAC-PJ Campus
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