SOCHUM-Topic A-2

The right to development (The Draft Resolution of SOHCHUM)

The General Assembly,

(Below are the history of the issue, and what has been done about it.)

Guided by the Charter of the United Nations, which expresses, in particular,

the determination to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger

freedom, as well as to employ international mechanisms for the promotion of the

economic and social advancement of all peoples,

Recalling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights1 as well as the

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights2 and the International Covenant

on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,2

Recalling also the outcomes of all the major United Nations conferences and

summits in the economic and social fields,

Recalling further that the Declaration on the Right to Development, adopted

by the General Assembly in its resolution 41/128 of 4 December 1986, confirmed

that the right to development is an inalienable human right and that equality of

opportunity for development is a prerogative both of nations and of individuals who

make up nations, and that the idevelopment,

Reaffirming the objective of making the right to development a reality for

everyone, as set out in the United Nations Millennium Declaration, adopted by the

General Assembly on 8 September 2000,4

Recalling the framework modalities agreed to at the General Council meeting

of the World Trade Organization in Geneva on 1 August 2004 in key areas such as

agriculture, market access for non-agricultural products, trade facilitation,

development and services,5

Recognizing that poverty is an affront to human dignity,

Stressing that poverty eradication is one of the critical elements in the

promotion and realization of the right to development and that poverty is a

multifaceted problem that requires a multifaceted and integrated approach in

addressing economic, political, social, environmental and institutional dimensions at

all levels, especially in the context of the Millennium Development Goal of halving,

by 2015, the proportion of the world’s people whose income is less than one dollar a

day and the proportion of people who suffer from hunger,

(Tina: Below are the practical 34 solutions.)

1. Endorses the conclusions and recommendations adopted by consensus by

the Working Group on the Right to Development of the Commission on Human

Rights at its seventh session,9 and calls for their immediate, full and effective

implementation by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human

Rights and other relevant actors;

2. Emphasizes the importance of the decisions contained in Human Rights

Council resolution 2006 I/47 to renew the mandate of the Working Group for a

period of one year and to request the Working Group to meet for a period of five

working days in the first three months of 2007;

3. Endorses the request of the Human Rights Council to the high-level task

force on the right to development to meet for a period of five working days before

the end of 2006 with a view to implementing the relevant recommendations

contained in the report of the seventh session of the Working Group;

4. Emphasizes the relevant provisions of General Assembly resolution

60/251 of 15 March 2006 establishing the Human Rights Council, and, in this

regard, calls upon the Council:

(a) To act to ensure that its agenda promotes and advances sustainable

development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals;

(b) To agree on a programme that will lead to the elevation of the right to

development to the same level as, in order that it may be on a par with, all other

human rights and fundamental freedoms elaborated in the human rights instruments;

5. Notes with appreciation that the high-level task force, at its second

meeting, examined Millennium Development Goal 8 on developing a global

partnership for development and suggested criteria for its periodic evaluation with

the aim of improving the effectiveness of global partnership with regard to the

realization of the right to development;11

6. Stresses the importance of the core principles contained in the

conclusions of the Working Group at its third session,12 congruent with the purpose

of international human rights instruments, such as equality, non-discrimination,

accountability, participation and international cooperation, as critical to

mainstreaming the right to development at the national and international levels, and

underlines the importance of the principles of equity and transparency;

7. Also stresses that it is important that the high-level task force and the

Working Group in the discharge of their mandates take into account the need:

(a) To promote the democratization of the system of international

governance in order to increase the effective participation of developing countries in

international decision-making;

(b) To also promote effective partnerships such as the New Partnership for

Africa’s Development10 and other similar initiatives with the developing countries,

particularly the least developed countries, for the purpose of the realization of their

right to development, including the achievement of the Millennium Development

Goals;

(c) To strive for greater acceptance, operationalization and realization of the

right to development at the international level, while urging all States to undertake

at the national level the necessary policy formulation and to institute the measures

required for the implementation of the right to development as a fundamental human

right, and also urging all States to expand and deepen mutually beneficial

cooperation in ensuring development and eliminating obstacles to development in

the context of promoting effective international cooperation for the realization of the

right to development, bearing in mind that lasting progress towards the

implementation of the right to development requires effective development policies

at the national level as well as equitable economic relations and a favourable

economic environment at the international level;

(d) To consider ways and means to ensure the operationalization of the right

to development as a priority, including through the elaboration of a convention on

the right to development;

(e) To mainstream the right to development in the policies and operational

activities of the United Nations and the specialized agencies, programmes and funds

as well as in policies and strategies of the international financial and multilateral

trading system, taking into account in this regard that the core principles of the

international economic, commercial and financial spheres, such as equity,

non-discrimination, transparency, accountability, participation and international

cooperation, including effective partnerships for development, are indispensable in

achieving the right to development and preventing discriminatory treatment arising

out of political or other non-economic considerations, in addressing the issues of

concern to the developing countries;

8. Reaffirms the request to the Subcommission on the Promotion and

Protection of Human Rights or its successor expert advice mechanism to pursue its

ongoing work on the right to development, particularly the submission of a concept

document establishing options for the implementation of the right to development

and their feasibility, inter alia, an international legal standard of a binding nature, in accordance with the relevant provisions of General Assembly and Commission on

Human Rights resolutions, and in compliance with decisions to be taken by the

Human Rights Council, and requests the Secretary-General to report on progress in

this regard to the Assembly at its sixty-second session;

9. Invites Member States and all other stakeholders to participate actively in

future sessions of the Social Forum of the Subcommission on the Promotion and

Protection of Human Rights, while recognizing the strong support extended to the

previous three sessions of the Forum by the Subcommission;

10. Reaffirms the commitment to implement the goals and targets set out in

all the outcome documents of the major United Nations conferences and summits

and their review processes, in particular those relating to the realization of the right

to development, recognizing that the realization of the right to development is

critical to achieving the objectives, goals and targets set in those outcome

documents;

11. Also reaffirms that the realization of the right to development is essential

to the implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action,3 which

regards all human rights as universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated,

places the human person at the centre of development and recognizes that, while

development facilitates the enjoyment of all human rights, the lack of development

may not be invoked to justify the abridgement of internationally recognized human

rights;

12. Stresses that the primary responsibility for the promotion and protection

of all human rights lies with the State, and reaffirms that States have the primary

responsibility for their own economic and social development and that the role of

national policies and development strategies cannot be overemphasized;

13. Reaffirms the primary responsibility of States to create national and

international conditions favourable to the realization of the right to development as

well as their commitment to cooperate with each other to that end;

14. Also reaffirms the need for an international environment that is

conducive to the realization of the right to development;

15. Stresses the need to strive for greater acceptance, operationalization and

realization of the right to development at the international and national levels, and

calls upon States to institute the measures required for the implementation of the

right to development as a fundamental human right;

16. Emphasizes the critical importance of identifying and analysing obstacles

impeding the full realization of the right to development at both the national and the

international levels;

17. Affirms that, while globalization offers both opportunities and challenges,

the process of globalization remains deficient in achieving the objectives of

integrating all countries into a globalized world, and stresses the need for policies

and measures at the national and global levels to respond to the challenges and

opportunities of globalization if this process is to be made fully inclusive and

equitable;

18. Recognizes that, despite continuous efforts on the part of the

international community, the gap between developed and developing countries

remains unacceptably wide, that developing countries continue to face difficulties in

participating in the globalization process and that many risk being marginalized and

effectively excluded from its benefits;

19. Underlines the fact that the international community is far from meeting

the target set in the United Nations Millennium Declaration4 of halving the number

of people living in poverty by 2015, reaffirms the commitment made to meet that

target, and emphasizes the principle of international cooperation, including

partnership and commitment, between developed and developing countries towards

achieving the goal;

20. Urges developed countries that have not yet done so to make concrete

efforts towards meeting the targets of 0.7 per cent of their gross national product for

official development assistance to developing countries and 0.15 to 0.2 per cent of

their gross national product to least developed countries, and encourages developing

countries to build on the progress achieved in ensuring that official development

assistance is used effectively to help to meet development goals and targets;

21. Recognizes the need to address market access for developing countries,

including in agriculture, services and non-agricultural products, in particular those

of interest to developing countries;

22. Calls for the implementation of a desirable pace of meaningful trade

liberalization, including in areas under negotiation; implementation of commitments

on implementation-related issues and concerns; review of special and differential-

treatment provisions, with a view to strengthening them and making them more

precise, effective and operational; avoidance of new forms of protectionism; and

capacity-building and technical assistance for developing countries as important

issues in making progress towards the effective implementation of the right to

development;

23. Recognizes the important link between the international economic,

commercial and financial spheres and the realization of the right to development,

stresses, in this regard, the need for good governance and broadening the base of

decision-making at the international level on issues of development concern and the

need to fill organizational gaps, as well as strengthen the United Nations system and

other multilateral institutions, and also stresses the need to broaden and strengthen

the participation of developing countries and countries with economies in transition

in international economic decision-making and norm-setting;

24. Also recognizes that good governance and the rule of law at the national

level assist all States in the promotion and protection of human rights, including the

right to development, and agrees on the value of the ongoing efforts being made by

States to identify and strengthen good governance practices, including transparent,

responsible, accountable and participatory government, that are responsive and

appropriate to their needs and aspirations, including in the context of agreed

partnership approaches to development, capacity-building and technical assistance;

25. Further recognizes the important role and the rights of women and the

application of a gender perspective as a cross-cutting issue in the process of

realizing the right to development, and notes in particular the positive relationship

between women’s education and their equal participation in the civil, cultural,

34. Also requests the Secretary-General to submit a report to the

General Assembly at its sixty-second and an interim report to the Human Rights

Council at its fourth session on the implementation of the present resolution,

including efforts undertaken at the national, regional and international levels in the

promotion and realization of the right to development, and invites the chairperson of

the Working Group on the Right to Development to present a verbal update to the

Assembly at its sixty-second session.

To see the full proposal or the proposal in Chinese, visit the following website:

http://www.un.org/ga/61/third/proposalslist.shtml

Instructions: Go to this website of SOCHUM (it is under the Documentation→List of Draft Proposals), find the the two articles one is called "United Nations Literacy Decade: Education for all ", its #A/C.3/61/L.4; and the other article called "The right to development [Item 67 (b)]"A/C.3/61/L.34 . and then press on the"C" ( beside the article are five letters they stand for five different languages written, and C is in Chinese. [F] [S] [A] [C] [R]), press on the F if you want to see the full proposal in English.

United Nations Literacy Decade: education for all

(The Draft Resolution of SOHCHUM)

The General Assembly,

(Below is the emphasis on education for all children, and the history of the issue.)

Recalling its resolution 56/116 of 19 December 2001, by which it proclaimed

the ten year period beginning on 1 January 2003 the United Nations Literacy

Decade, its resolution 57/166 of 18 December 2002, in which it welcomed the

International Plan of Action for the United Nations Literacy Decade, and its

resolution 59/149 of 20 December 2004,

Recalling also the United Nations Millennium Declaration,1 in which Member

States resolved to ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike,

will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling and that girls and boys

will have equal access to all levels of education, which requires a renewed

commitment to promote literacy for all,

Recalling further the 2005 World Summit Outcome,2 in which world leaders

emphasized the critical role of both formal and informal education in the

achievement of poverty eradication and other development goals as envisaged in the

Millennium Declaration, in particular basic education and training for eradicating

illiteracy,

Reaffirming that a basic education is crucial to nation-building, that literacy

for all is at the heart of basic education for all and that creating literate

environments and societies is essential for achieving the goals of eradicating

poverty, reducing child mortality, curbing population growth, achieving gender

equality and ensuring sustainable development, peace and democracy,

Affirming that the realization of the right to education, especially for girls,

contributes to the promotion of gender equality and the eradication of poverty,

Noting with deep concern that 771 million adults over the age of 15 lack basic

literacy skills worldwide, that over 100 million children are still out of school, that

the issue of illiteracy may not be sufficiently high on national agendas to generate

the kind of political and economic support required to address global illiteracy

challenges and that the world is unlikely to meet those challenges if the present

trends continue,

Deeply concerned about the persistence of the gender gap in education, which

is reflected by the fact that nearly two thirds of the world’s adult illiterates are

women,

(Below are 12 concrete solutions for the issue.)

1. Takes note of the report of the Director-General of the United Nations

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on the implementation of the

International Plan of Action for the United Nations Literacy Decade;3

2. Welcomes the efforts made so far by Member States and the international

community in implementing the International Plan of Action;

3. Appeals to all Governments to develop reliable literacy data and

information and to further reinforce political will, mobilize adequate national

resources, develop more inclusive policymaking environments and devise

innovative strategies for reaching the poorest and most marginalized groups and for

seeking alternative formal and non-formal approaches to learning with a view to

achieving the goals of the Decade;

4. Urges all Governments to take the lead in coordinating the activities of

the Decade at the national level, bringing all relevant national actors together in a

sustained dialogue and collaborative action on policy formulation, implementation

and evaluation of literacy efforts;

5. Appeals to all Governments and professional organizations to strengthen

national and professional educational institutions in their countries with a view to

expanding their capacity and promoting the quality of education, with particular

focus on literacy;

6. Appeals to all Governments and to economic and financial organizations

and institutions, both national and international, to lend greater financial and

material support to the efforts to increase literacy and achieve the goals of education

for all and those of the Decade, through, inter alia, the 20/20 initiative,4 as

appropriate;

7. Invites Member States, the specialized agencies and other organizations

of the United Nations system, as well as relevant intergovernmental and

non-governmental organizations, to intensify their efforts to implement effectively

the International Plan of Action, and to integrate substantially those efforts in the

Education for All process and other initiatives and activities of the United Nations

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and within the framework of the

internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the United

Nations Millennium Declaration;1

8. Requests the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural

Organization to reinforce its lead role in coordinating and catalysing the activities of

the Decade at the regional and international levels, prepare and conduct the

mid-Decade review in collaboration with all Decade partners during 2007 and 2008

and submit its results to the General Assembly;

9. Welcomes the offer by the Government of Mongolia to host the

Asia-Pacific midterm review of the Decade in collaboration with the United Nations

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the Economic and Social

Commission for Asia and the Pacific, and invites the Member States in the region to

take an active part in its preparations and organization;

10. Requests all relevant entities of the United Nations system, particularly

the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, in cooperation

with national Governments, to take immediate, concrete steps to address the needs

of countries with high illiteracy rates and/or with large populations of illiterate

adults, with particular regard to women;

11. Requests the Secretary-General, in cooperation with the Director-General

of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, to seek the

views of Member States on the progress achieved in implementing their national

programmes and plans of action for the Decade and to submit the next progress

report on the implementation of the International Plan of Action to the General

Assembly in 2008;

12. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its sixty-third session,

under the item entitled “Social development”, the sub-item entitled “United Nations

Literacy Decade: education for all”.