RES/40/12 Question of the realization in all countries of economic, social and cultural rights

GE.19-05834(E)



Human Rights Council Fortieth session

25 February–22 March 2019

Agenda item 3

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 21 March 2019

40/12. Question of the realization in all countries of economic, social and

cultural rights

The Human Rights Council,

Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,

Guided also by the principles of economic, social and cultural rights enshrined in

international human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,

Recalling that the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, the 2005 World

Summit Outcome and General Assembly resolution 60/251 of 15 March 2006, in which the

Assembly established the Human Rights Council, all affirm that all human rights are

universal, indivisible, interrelated, interdependent and mutually reinforcing and must be

treated in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing and with the same emphasis, and

recalling also that the respect, promotion and fulfilment of one category of rights should

never exempt States from the respect, promotion and fulfilment of the other rights,

Recalling also the United Nations Millennium Declaration, in which the Heads of

State and Government affirmed their commitment to spare no effort to promote democracy

and strengthen the rule of law, as well as peace, development and respect for all

internationally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to

development, and believing that broad and sustained efforts are needed to build a

community of shared future for all human beings in which the human person is the central

subject of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Reaffirming General Assembly resolution 70/1 of 25 September 2015, entitled

“Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, in which the

Assembly adopted a comprehensive, far-reaching and people-centred set of universal and

transformative Sustainable Development Goals and targets, its commitment to working

tirelessly for the full implementation of the Agenda by 2030, its recognition that eradicating

poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global

challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, its commitment to

achieving sustainable development in its three dimensions – economic, social and

environmental – in a balanced and integrated manner, building upon the achievements of

the Millennium Development Goals and seeking to address their unfinished business, and

aiming to contribute to the full implementation of the Agenda by 2030,

United Nations A/HRC/RES/40/12

Recalling the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants adopted by the

General Assembly on 19 September 2016, which was aimed at, inter alia, the adoption of a

global compact on refugees and a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration

that address the human rights of all refugees and migrants, regardless of status, and that

include a pledge to fully protect such rights,

Recognizing that the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the 169 targets of the

2030 Agenda cover a wide range of issues relating to economic, social and cultural rights,

in particular availability, accessibility, affordability and quality of services, and many

dimensions of civil and political rights, as well as issues that are related to domestic

resource mobilization, international cooperation and the right to development, and

recognizing also that the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International

Conference on Financing for Development is an integral part of the 2030 Agenda and that

the implementation of the 2030 Agenda must be consistent with a State’s obligations under

international human rights law,

Recalling its resolutions on the question of the realization in all countries of

economic, social and cultural rights, and the resolutions adopted by the Commission on

Human Rights on the same topic,

Reaffirming the obligations and commitments of States to take steps, individually

and through international assistance and cooperation, especially economic and technical, to

the maximum of available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the full

realization of economic, social and cultural rights by all appropriate means, including

particularly the adoption of legislative measures,

Underlining the human rights principles of, inter alia, non-discrimination, human

dignity, equity, equality, universality, participation and accountability, as affirmed in

international human rights law and in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action,

and emphasizing that the rights enunciated in the International Covenant on Economic,

Social and Cultural Rights are to be realized in a non-discriminatory manner,

Acknowledging that the promotion and protection of human rights and the

implementation of the 2030 Agenda are interrelated and mutually reinforcing,

Recalling the commitment included in the International Covenant on Economic,

Social and Cultural Rights to ensure the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of

all economic, social and cultural rights set forth in the Covenant, and welcoming the

inclusion of both gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls as a stand-

alone goal, and its integration into all goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda and throughout

the implementation process,

Recognizing that human rights and social protection floors complement each other,

and that social protection floors, when used as a baseline, have the potential to facilitate the

enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights and to reduce poverty and inequality,

Mindful that empowering people and ensuring equality and inclusiveness in

accordance with States’ obligations under international human rights law are among the

main elements for achieving sustainable development, and that the normative framework

for economic, social and cultural rights offers guidance for the implementation of the

Sustainable Development Goals in a more effective and inclusive manner,

Noting that an essential aspect of a human rights-based approach to sustainable

development is promoting the knowledge of human rights, including economic, social and

cultural rights, thus enabling individuals and stakeholders to participate in decision-making

processes that affect their lives, including through the exercise of civil and political rights,

Mindful that leaving no one behind not only is about reaching the furthest behind but

also requires all stakeholders to work together in combating discrimination and inequalities

within and among countries,

Recognizing that persistent and growing inequalities within and among countries are

a major challenge to poverty eradication, particularly affecting those who are living in

extreme poverty and in vulnerable situations,

1. Welcomes the most recent accession to the International Covenant on

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and calls upon all States that have not yet signed and

ratified or acceded to the Covenant to consider doing so as a matter of priority, and States

parties to consider reviewing their reservations thereto;

2. Calls upon all States to give full effect to economic, social and cultural rights

and to take all appropriate measures to implement the Human Rights Council resolutions on

the question of the realization in all countries of economic, social and cultural rights, the

most recent of which is resolution 37/13 of 22 March 2018;

3. Welcomes the most recent accession to the Optional Protocol to the

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and encourages all States

that have not yet signed and ratified or acceded to the Optional Protocol to consider doing

so, and also to consider making declarations under articles 10 and 11 thereof;

4. Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General on the

question of the realization of economic, social and cultural rights in all countries, with a

special focus on the role of economic, social and cultural rights in empowering people and

ensuring inclusiveness and equality, submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council

resolution 37/13,1 and of the conclusions contained therein;

5. Emphasizes that, in General Assembly resolution 70/1, States committed to

taking bold and transformative steps that were urgently needed to shift the world onto a

sustainable and resilient path, pledged that no one would be left behind and that they would

endeavour to reach the furthest behind first, recognized that the dignity of the human person

was fundamental, envisaged a world of universal respect for equality and non-

discrimination and included the concepts of resilience and sustainability in the Sustainable

Development Goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

6. Urges States to adopt or further develop procedures for information-

gathering and measurement that may, if analysed in the light of international human rights

law principles and standards, serve as national indicators for State decision-making

processes, and that are transparent and participatory and allow for accountability;

7. Notes with appreciation the contributions of international human rights

mechanisms, including the international human rights treaty bodies, the Human Rights

Council and its subsidiary bodies, the special procedures and the universal periodic review

in promoting the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in accordance with States’ human

rights obligations, and encourages States to give due consideration to information,

observations and recommendations from human rights mechanisms when implementing

and monitoring the progress of the 2030 Agenda, and to promote the cooperation of all

stakeholders towards the full integration of human rights into the said processes;

8. Underlines the importance of access to justice and an effective remedy for

violations of economic, social and cultural rights, and in this regard notes with appreciation

the measures taken to facilitate access to complaints procedures and the domestic

adjudication of cases, as appropriate, for victims of alleged human rights violations;

9. Welcomes the steps taken at the national level to implement economic, social

and cultural rights, including the enactment of appropriate legislation and adjudication by

national courts, and in this regard underlines the need to consider justiciability when

determining the best way to give domestic legal effect to the rights in the International

Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;

10. Recognizes that the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and their 169 targets

are aimed at, inter alia, realizing the human rights of all and achieving gender equality and

the empowerment of all women and girls, and that they are integrated and indivisible and

balance the three dimensions of sustainable development, namely the economic, social and

environmental, calls upon States to implement the 2030 Agenda consistent with the

principles of equality and non-discrimination, and in this regard encourages States to

consider appropriate measures to promote de facto equality;

1 A/HRC/40/29.

11. Acknowledges that social protection floors may facilitate the enjoyment of

human rights, including the rights to social security, the highest attainable standard of

physical and mental health, an adequate standard of living, including adequate food,

clothing and housing, education and safe drinking water and sanitation, in accordance with

the human rights obligations of States, and in this regard underlines the importance of

acting consistently with the principles of non-discrimination, transparency, participation

and accountability;

12. Underlines the importance of developing human rights training and education,

which can help to build societies that respect dignity, equality, inclusion, integrity, diversity

and the rule of law;

13. Encourages the use of international human rights standards and the analysis

and recommendations of the human rights bodies and mechanisms to identify who is being

left behind, marginalized or discriminated against in each country context and the root

causes, including multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, as well as the measures

necessary to combat discrimination and inequalities;

14. Calls upon States:

(a) To promote the use of human rights indicators to measure progress in the

implementation of laws, policies and actions to address discrimination and inequalities;

(b) To identify patterns of discrimination in law, policies and practices, and to

address entrenched structural barriers and unequal power relations that generate and

perpetuate inequality over generations;

(c) To strengthen the role and capacity of national human rights institutions in

accordance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the

promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles) and of equality bodies, to

protect civic space and to contribute to providing support for stakeholders in the

identification of appropriate solutions for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals at

the national and local levels;

15. Notes with appreciation the work carried out by the Committee on Economic,

Social and Cultural Rights to assist States parties in fulfilling their obligations, including

through the elaboration of general comments, the consideration of periodic reports and, for

States parties to the Optional Protocol to the Covenant, the examination of individual

communications;

16. Also notes with appreciation the work of other relevant treaty bodies and

special procedures in the promotion and protection of economic, social and cultural rights

within their respective mandates;

17. Encourages enhanced cooperation and increased coordination between the

Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other human rights treaty bodies,

United Nations bodies, specialized agencies and programmes and mechanisms of the

Human Rights Council whose activities have a bearing on economic, social and cultural

rights, in a manner that respects their distinctive mandates and promotes their policies,

programmes and projects;

18. Recognizes and encourages the important contributions of regional

organizations, national human rights institutions and civil society, including non-

governmental organizations, academic and research institutions, business enterprises and

trade unions, to the question of the realization and enjoyment of economic, social and

cultural rights, including training and information activities;

19. Welcomes the activities carried out by the Office of the United Nations High

Commissioner for Human Rights on the promotion of economic, social and cultural rights,

mainly through technical cooperation, the work of its field offices, its relevant reports to

United Nations bodies, the development of in-house expertise, including on human rights

indicators, and its publications, studies, training and information activities on related issues,

including through new information technologies;

20. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to prepare and submit to the

Human Rights Council an annual report on the question of the realization in all countries of

economic, social and cultural rights under agenda item 3, with a special focus on the role of

new technologies for the realization of economic, social and cultural rights;

21. Decides to remain seized of this issue and to consider taking further action in

order to implement the present resolution.

52nd meeting

21 March 2019

[Adopted without a vote.]