Research Guides: Human Rights 75: Social protection, sustainable development and the right to development

About Social Protection, Sustainable Development and The Right to Development

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate emergency and other crises, global poverty has increased for the first time in over 20 years. Socio-economic inequalities within and among countries have deepened, with millions pushed deeper into poverty and more countries struggling under debt distress. Much of the progress in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has been halted or erased. Social protection, the right to development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals are key to eradicating poverty, reducing inequalities and making sure we leave no one behind. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides for the right to social security and the right to development and is the cornerstone of the Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The basics

OHCHR and the right to social security
The right to social security is recognized in numerous human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and is crucial for guaranteeing a life in dignity. A fundamental human right, social security is a potent tool to combat poverty and an essential instrument for reducing inequality and promoting social inclusion. It aims to provide income security and support at every stage of life for everyone, with particular attention to the most marginalized. More about the right to social security and human rights, particularly for older persons, persons with disabilities, and youth.
The following are essential aspects of the right to social security in all situations: a. Availability: A social security system needs to be in place under domestic law to ensure people access to healthcare and income security for all relevant social risks and contingencies. b. Adequacy: Benefits, whether in cash or in kind, must be sufficient in quantity and duration so that everyone may realize his or her rights to family protection and assistance, an adequate standard of living and the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. c. Affordability: Costs and charges associated with contributions to social security must be affordable for all, and must not compromise the realization of other Covenant rights. d. Accessibility: A social security system should cover all persons, especially those belonging to the most disadvantaged and marginalized groups, without discrimination. Benefits should also be physically accessible. Learn more about the key elements of the right to social security.
OHCHR and the right to development
The goal of development is to improve the wellbeing of every member of society. People are not the how of development - not tools that can be exploited to produce greater wealth for limited elites. They are the why. True development generates greater social justice, not deeper exploitation; and it reduces the towering inequalities which threaten fundamental human rights, in particular of those who are marginalised and poor. Read more about why the right to development is a human rights issue.
Different human rights mechanisms are dedicated specifically to the right to development, including the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Right to Development, the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development and the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development. In 2023, the Human Rights Council, in its resolution 54/18, decided to submit to the General Assembly the draft international covenant on the right to development for its consideration, negotiation and subsequent adoption. The draft international covenant on the right to development is available as an annex to the same resolution and in document A/HRC/54/50, with its addendum 1 including commentaries and its addendum 2 including considerations of comments and textual proposals.
OHCHR and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
Human rights are essential to achieving sustainable development that leaves no one behind and are central to all its three dimensions – social, environmental, and economic. This is reflected in the transformative ambition of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda), which seeks “to realize the human rights of all” and is firmly anchored in human rights principles and standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the international human rights treaties. Learn more about the 2030 Agenda and relevant OHCHR’s engagement and read the key messages OHCHR brought to the 2023 SDG Summit under the call to leverage human rights to rescue the SDGs. Learn more about the HR Council special procedures mandate-holders joint declaration on the 2023 SDG Summit and the work of the OHCHR’s Surge Initiative.
Declaration on the Right to Development
Poverty, the right to food and social protection

Human Rights 75

Connect

Featured Books

Human Rights and 21st Century Challenges by Dapo Akande (Editor); Jaakko Kuosmanen (Editor); Helen McDermott (Editor); Dominic Roser (Editor)
ISBN: 9780198824770
Publication Date: 2020-03-18
The world is faced with significant and interrelated challenges in the 21st century which threaten human rights in a number of ways. This book examines three of the largest issues of the century - armed conflict, environment, and poverty - and examines how these may be addressed using a human rights framework. It considers how these challenges threaten human rights and reassesses our understanding of human rights in the light of these issues. This multidisciplinary text considers both foundational and applied questions such as the relationship between morality and the laws of war, as well as the application of the International Human Rights Framework in cyber space. Alongside analyses from some of the most prominent lawyers, philosophers, and political theorists in the debate, each section includes contributions by those who have served as Special Rapporteurs within the United Nations Human Rights System on the challenges facing international human rights laws today.
The Fight Against Poverty and the Right to Development by Mads Andenas (Editor); Jeremy Perelman (Editor); Christian Scharling (Editor)
ISBN: 3030573230
Publication Date: 2020-12-05
This book conducts a comparative legal study from two analytical points of view. First, it accounts for the legal dimensions of the fight against poverty and the right to development as seen from the perspective of domestic legal law. It examines the domestic legal tools, such as constitutional law, that aim to contribute to the fight against poverty and the right to development. Second, the book accounts for the domestic contributions to the international legal framework and examines cross-cutting themes of the contemporary state-of-play on the fight against poverty more broadly and of the right to development. The book consists of several national and thematic reports, which look at these issues from either a national or a thematic perspective. Its first chapter is a general report, which draws on the national and thematic reports to compare, systematize and question the contemporary features at play within the field of the fight against poverty and the right to development.
The Right to Development and Sustainable Development : The Perspective of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by Xigen Wang, Ruoyu Li, Chong Zhang, Zihan Yan
ISBN: 9004364455
Publication Date: 2019
In The Right to Development authors offer a new path for the implementation and protection of the right to development from the new perspective of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Instead of emphasizing the economic perspective, this book focuses on how to realize the right to sustainable development by resolution of conflicts among the economy, the environment and society. Integrating the value analysis into the empirical analysis method, this book expands the scope of the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development and strengthens its practical function, extracts Chinese experiences, lessons from South Asia, local knowledge in South Africa and practice in Peru on the implementation of the right to development, and puts forward the idea of building human rights criteria in the South.
Human Rights and Development by Eva Brems (Editor); Christophe Van der Beken (Editor); Solomon Abay Yimer (Editor)
ISBN: 9789004280243
Publication Date: 2015-01-23
The papers by international and Ethiopian scholars included in Human Rights and Development: Legal Perspectives from and for Ethiopia focus on the interconnectedness between the protection of human rights and the achievement of development. The book adds to the international debate by providing a unique insight into the Ethiopian perspective on the nexus between rights and development and by discussing how this nexus manifests itself in the Ethiopian context. The comparative and international frameworks and examples constitute a valuable resource for the debate on human rights and development in Ethiopia, which is currently taking place in the context of the developmental state approach pursued by the Ethiopian government.
Realizing the Right to Development by United Nations (Other Primary Creator)
ISBN: 9789211541946
Publication Date: 2013-12-20
This book is devoted to the 25th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development. It contains a collection of analytical studies of various aspects of the right to development, which include the rule of law and good governance, aid, trade, debt, technology transfer, intellectual property, access to medicines and climate change in the context of an enabling environment at the local, regional and international levels. It also explores the issues of poverty, women and indigenous peoples within the theme of social justice and equity. The book considers the strides that have been made over the years in measuring progress in implementing the right to development and possible ways forward to make the right to development a reality for all in an increasingly fragile, interdependent and ever-changing world.
Human Rights and the Right to Food by Claudia Tofan (Editor)
ISBN: 9789058870643
Publication Date: 2013-06-14
The right to food is a basic human right, as well as a basic human need which should be guaranteed to all people. Food is the most basic necessity of life. When talking about the right to food, we generally tend to focus only on the developing countries and their right to food. In recent years, another issue with regard to food has been added as a human right: the right to safe food. The right to food has been recognized in numerous international instruments, including several meetings attended by world leaders or their representatives where they have increasingly committed themselves to promoting this right. Unfortunately, the international legal recognition of the right to adequate food and numerous commitments to its fulfillment has not translated into widespread acknowledgement and incorporation domestically by all States. Much of the content of the right to food has been developed as a result of these instruments; therefore it is necessary to look at them. This collection presents the most important documents and reports from the United Nations, regional organizations, and national achievements.
The Right to Development and International Economic Law by Isabella D. Bunn
ISBN: 1847319106
Publication Date: 2012-03-01
The United Nations is commemorating the 25th anniversary of the 1986 Declaration on the Right to Development, which proclaimed the right to be: 'an inalienable human right by virtue of which every human person and all peoples are entitled to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be realized'. The UN now aims to mainstream the right into its policies and operational activities, and is reviewing prospects for an internationally-binding legal instrument. The evolution of the right to development, however, has been dominated by debates about its conceptual validity and practical ramifications. It has been hailed as the cornerstone of the entire human rights system and criticized as a distracting ideological initiative. Questions also persist about the role of the right in reforming the international economic order. This book examines the legal and moral foundations of the right to development, addressing the major issues. It then considers the right to development in the global economy, noting the challenges of globalization and identifying key principles such as differential treatment of developing countries, participation and accountability. It relates the right to broad objectives such as the Millennium Development Goals, the human rights-based approach to development, and environmental sustainability. Implications for international economic law and policy in the areas of trade, development finance and corporate responsibility are assessed. The conclusion looks to the legal and ethical contributions - and limitations - of the right to development in this new context. With an academic and professional background in international law, human rights and moral theology, the author brings a unique interdisciplinary focus to this timely project.
Accounting for Hunger by Olivier De Schutter (Editor); Kaitlin Y. Cordes (Editor)
ISBN: 1847318274
Publication Date: 2011-11-14
The challenge of global hunger is now high on the agenda of governments and international policy-makers. This new work contributes to addressing that challenge, by looking at the obstacles which stand in the way of implementing a right to food in the era of globalisation. The book describes the current situation of global hunger; it considers how it relates both to the development of food systems and to the merger of the food and energy markets; and it explains how the right to food contributes to identifying solutions at the domestic and international levels. The right to food, it argues, can only be realised if governance improves at the domestic level, and if the international environment enables governments to adopt appropriate policies, for which they require a certain policy space. The essays in this book demonstrate that the current regimes of trade, investment and food aid, as well as the development of biofuels production - all of which contribute to define the international context in which states implement such reforms - should be reshaped if national efforts are to be successful. The implication is that extraterritorial human rights obligations of states (their obligations to respect the right to food beyond their national territories, for instance in their food aid, investment or trade policies), as well as the strengthening of global governance of food security (as is currently being attempted with the reform of the Committee on World Food Security in Rome), have a key role to fulfill: domestic reforms will not achieve sustainable results unless the international environment is more enabling of the efforts of governments acting individually. In this reform process, accountability both at the domestic and international level is essential if sustainable progress is to be achieved in combating global hunger.
The Fight for the Right to Food by Jean Ziegler; Christophe Golay; Claire Mahon; Sally-Anne Way
ISBN: 9780230284647
Publication Date: 2011-02-01
This book documents and analyzes the experiences of the UN's first Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. It highlights the conceptual advances in the legal understanding of the right to food in international human rights law, as well as analyzes key practical challenges through experiences in 11 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America.
A Commentary on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 26: the Right to Benefit from Social Security by Wouter Vandenhole
ISBN: 9789004148796
Publication Date: 2007-08-13
This volume constitutes a commentary on Article 26 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is part of the series, A Commentary on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which provides an article by article analysis of all substantive, organizational and procedural provisions of the CRC and its two Optional Protocols. For every article, a comparison with related human rights provisions is made, followed by an in-depth exploration of the nature and scope of State obligations deriving from that article. The series constitutes an essential tool for actors in the field of children s rights, including academics, students, judges, grassroots workers, governmental, non- governmental and international officers. The series is sponsored by the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office.
Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights in Action by Robert McCorquodale (Editor); Mashood Baderin (Editor)
ISBN: 9780199217908
Publication Date: 2007-06-21
On 16 December 1966 the United Nations adopted the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This was the first global treaty that established legal obligations on states to protect a range of important economic, social and cultural rights. 40 years later the vast majority of States have ratified this treaty. Despite this history, there remains considerable debate, both within the literature and within the international community generally, about the concept and application of economic, social and cultural rights. This collection gives a coherent analysis of many of the key issues, both in concept and in application, relevant to economic, social and cultural rights. The authors of the chapters, many of whom are leading scholars in their fields with significant experience in practice, examine how the obligations to protect these rights have been applied today, including their application to the Security Council and to non-state actors, as well as in the context of development and dispossession. They provide important universal and regional comparative perspectives on the development and implementation of these rights, and consider some of the contemporary issues relating to these rights, such as trade, health and social security.
Social Security as a Human Right by Eibe Riedel (Editor)
ISBN: 9783540314677
Publication Date: 2006-11-07
An International Expert Workshop on the Right to Social Security was held in April 2005 at the German Institute for Human Rights, whose purpose was to highlight specific issues of the right to social security which should be addressed by the Committee when drafting a General Comment on article 9. The results of this workshop are published in this volume providing an insight into the current challenges on social security as a human right.
World Poverty and Human Rights by Thomas Pogge
ISBN: 9780745629957
Publication Date: 2002-11-08
The poorest 46 percent of humankind have 1.2 percent of global income. Their purchasing power per person per day is less than that of $2.15 in the US in 1993; 826 million of them do not have enough to eat. One-third of all human deaths are from poverty-related causes: 18 million annually, including 12 million children under five. At the other end, the 15 percent of humankind in the 'high-income economies' have 80 percent of global income. Shifting 1 or 2 percent of our share toward poverty eradication seems morally compelling. Yet the prosperous 1990s have in fact brought a large shift toward greater global inequality, as most of the affluent believe that they have no such responsibility. Thomas Pogge's book seeks to explain how this belief is sustained. He analyses how our moral and economic theorizing and our global economic order have adapted to make us appear disconnected from massive poverty abroad. Dispelling the illusion, he also offers a modest, widely sharable standard of global economic justice and makes detailed, realistic proposals toward fulfilling it.

Journal Articles

Databases

HeinOnline Law Journal Library This link opens in a new window
HeinOnline is a full text archive of U.S. and Canadian law journals. The emphasis is on historical material that has not previously been available online or accessible through online indexes.
Note: Use this link when outside the Palais: LINK
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR gives access to a full-text searchable collection of leading academic journals across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. All titles begin with volume one.UNOG Library subscribes to collections I, II and IV.
Cambridge Journals Online This link opens in a new window
Includes access to select e-journal subscriptions and open-access titles.
Social Science Research Network (SSRN) This link opens in a new window
The eLibrary consists of two parts: an Abstract Database containing abstracts on over 220,200 scholarly working papers and forthcoming papers and an Electronic Paper Collection currently containing over 179,800 downloadable full text documents in pdf format.Access: create your own free account in order to view full-text papers.
Oxford Scholarship Online: Law This link opens in a new window
Classic and new titles by Oxford University Press.
Note: If the above link does not work, then try to sign in on the site itself by the "Sign in via your Institution" option.
Kluwer Law International This link opens in a new window
Abstracts, Full text
Kluwer Law Online can be used primarily to find abstracts and citations of legal periodicals. Full-text access is available for journals to which UNOG Library subscribes, including Common market law review, European Energy and Environmental Law Review, European Foreign Affairs Review, Journal of International Arbitration, Legal Issues of Economic Integration, and World Competition.
LexisNexis @ UNOG Library (Please ask your Librarian about conditions for access) This link opens in a new window
Accessible from all UNOG Library workstations. Please ask your Librarian for the ID and Password. Full text database which provides access to over 10,000 news, business and legal publications. Includes more than 50 major English-language newspapers as well as non-English language news sources; broadcast transcripts from the major television networks and wire services. Law sources available include: case law and legislation from around the world and articles from over 600 law journals; U.S. Supreme Court decisions from 1790 to present and all U.S. Federal laws from 1988 to present.
UN OHCHR Library Catalogue This link opens in a new window
Catalogue of the library for the OHCHR (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights).
ProQuest - News and Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Detailed indexing and full-text access to newspapers from around the world.
World Bank World Development Indicators This link opens in a new window
The primary World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially-recognized international sources. It presents the most current and accurate global development data available, and includes national, regional and global estimates.
World Development Indicators Online (WDI) provides direct access to more than 700 development indicators, with time series for 208 countries and 18 country groups.Coverage : 1960+

Key International Documents

Relevant important international documents:

General Comment No. 19, Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights E/C.12/GC/19
The impact of austerity measures on ESCR E/2013/82
The Declaration on the Right to Development, published in 1986, the declaration outlines how everyone, without distinction, is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights can be fully realised.
Frequently Asked Questions, Fact sheet No.37 (2016)
Realising the Right to Development e-Book, a compilation of essays to commemorate 25 years of the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development
The Right to Adequate Food, OHCHR Fact Sheet No. 34, OHCHR/FAO
General Comment No. 12 on the right to adequate food, The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
The Guiding Principles on extreme poverty and human rights The Human Rights Council adopted the Guiding Principles at its 21st session in September 2012. These were the first global policy guidelines focusing specifically on the human rights of people living in poverty. They are intended as a practical tool for policy-makers to ensure that public policies and poverty eradication efforts reach the poorest members of society, respect and uphold their rights, and take into account the social, cultural, economic and structural obstacles to human rights enjoyment faced by persons living in poverty.

International human rights law provides a clear and universal framework for the promotion and protection of the right to development. The right to development is enshrined by the following norms and standards:

Illicit Financial Flows and the Right to Development:

International Investment Agreements, Industrialization and the Right to Development

Sustainable Development Goals

Political declaration of the high-level political forum on sustainable development convened under the auspices of the General Assembly (outcome of the 2023 SDG Summit)
Political declaration of the high-level political forum on sustainable development convened under the auspices of the General Assembly (outcome of the 2019 SDG Summit)
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
Addis Ababa Action Agenda

Latest reports and publications

The right to social security

Report of the Secretary-General on the question of the realization in all countries of economic, social and cultural rights (A/HRC/49/28, February 2022)
Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Summary of the intersessional full-day panel discussion on the right to social security in the changing world of work (A/HRC/49/33, February 2022)
ILO: Making the right to social security a reality for domestic workers: A global review of policy trends, statistics and extension strategies (2022)
Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on economic, social and cultural rights to the Economic and Social Council (E/2020/63, June 2021)
Report of the Secretary-General on the question of the realization of economic, social and cultural rights in all countries: the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the realization of economic, social and cultural rights (A/HRC/46/43, January 2021)
Report on social protection floors and economic and social rights (2015)
This report looks at social protection floors, and how their adoption by States is important in securing the enjoyment of basic economic, social and cultural rights, reducing poverty and inequality.
Report on austerity measures on economic and social rights (2013)
Austerity measures passed by States in the wake of the global financial crisis of 2008 reduced social sector spending and lowered standards of living for many. To meet human rights obligations, States must work to ensure these measures are necessary, proportionate, non-discriminatory and respectful of minimum core obligations.
Key advocacy messages on austerity measures and the right to social security (2013)
This brochure provides key human rights messages regarding the impact of austerity measures, with a specific focus on the right to social security.

The right to development

Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General (2023): The upcoming consolidated report of the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights will contain an analysis of the realization of the right to development and challenges in the context of the response to and the recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The report will also provide an overview of the activities of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from June 2022 to May 2023 on the promotion and realization of the right to development. View document A/HRC/54/38
Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General (2022): The present report contains an analysis of the efforts undertaken for and the challenges to the realization of the right to development in the context of the response to and the recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The report also contains an overview of the activities of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the promotion and realization of the right to development. | View document A/HRC/51/22
Annual progress, focus on least developed countries and the COVID-19 pandemic (2020): An overview of OHCHR activities on the promotion and realisation of the right to development between June 2019 and May 2020. The report also contains an analysis of the implementation of the right to development in least developed countries, taking into account existing challenges, including in the context of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and recommendations on how to overcome them. View report page | View document A/HRC/45/21

The right to food

FAO State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (2019) العربية | 中文 | English | Français | Русский | Español
Right to Food Guidelines FAO Voluntary Guidelines to support the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security
FAO right to food portal / FAO Publications
CFS Framework for Action for Food Insecurity in Protracted Crises
CFS Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security
General Comment No. 12 on the right to adequate food The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (available in 6 UN languages)

The Sustainable Development Goals

Reports on the right to development, social protection and the SDGs

Operationalizing the right to development in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals - Study by the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development (A/HRC/48/63)
Inequality, social protection and the right to development - Study by the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development (A/HRC/54/83)

Human Rights 75: Social protection, sustainable development and the right to development

About Social Protection, Sustainable Development and The Right to Development

The basics

Human Rights 75

Connect

Human rights are key to ensuring no one is left behind

Human rights can help ensure no one is left behind, says ASG Brands Kehris at SDG Action Weekend

International cooperation, and meaningful participation by people, will build stronger development, says Deputy High Commissioner

Human rights measures can rescue the SDGs, said High Commissioner Türk

ASG Brands Kehris statement on human rights and sustainable development

Statement by UN Human Rights Chief on human rights economy

International cooperation, and meaningful participation by people, will build stronger development, says Deputy High Commissione

Featured Books

Journal Articles

Databases

Key International Documents

Latest reports and publications

Other Useful Links