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<p><span style="font-size:13pt;font-family:'ArialMT';color:rgb(128,0,0)">JOINT STATEMENT
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:24pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700;color:rgb(128,0,0)">Human Rights for All Post-2015
</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700;color:rgb(128,0,0)">10 December 2013
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">Human rights have surged to the forefront of the debate about what
will succeed the Millennium Development Goals in 2015. As human
rights and social justice organizations worldwide, we feel compelled
to lay out some of the baseline implications of embedding human
rights into the core of the sustainable development agenda this time
around.
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">At its essence, a post-2015 framework anchored in human rights
moves from a model of charity to one of justice, based on the inherent
dignity of people as human rights-holders, domestic governments as
primary duty-bearers, and all development actors sharing common
but differentiated responsibilities. Accordingly, the post-2015
framework should be </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">designed as a tool to empower and enable
people—individually </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">and collectively—to monitor and hold their
governments, other governments, businesses, international
institutions and other development actors to account for their conduct
as it affects people’s lives within and beyond borders. A sustainable
development framework founded in human rights can serve as an
</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">instrument for people and countries to help unseat the
structural obstacles to sustainable, inclusive and just
development, prevent conflict and stimulate implementation and
enforcement of all human rights—civil, </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">political, economic, social
and cultural rights, the right to development, and to a healthy
environment.
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">The post-2015 framework must then </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">at the very least respect and
reflect pre-existing human rights legal norms, standards and
political commitments </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">to which governments have already
voluntarily agreed. International human rights, environmental and
humanitarian law, the Millennium Declaration, as well as related
international consensus documents agreed in Rio, Vienna, Cairo,
Beijing, Monterrey and Copenhagen and their follow-up agreements
must form its </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">non-negotiable normative base.
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">If it is going to incentivize progress while also preventing backsliding
and violations, human rights principles and standards must go
beyond the rhetorical, and have real operational significance this time
around. Among other things, </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">anchoring the post-2015 agenda in
human rights for current and future generations implies that the
framework:
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">1. </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">Upholds all human rights for all. </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">The framework should
stimulate improved human rights process and outcomes for all
people, especially the most vulnerable, in all countries global
North and global South. </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">Along with economic, social,
</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">cultural and environmental rights, </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">any successor framework must include commitments
to </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">protect freedom of association, expression, assembly and political participation if
it is to ensure an enabling environment for an empowered civil society, </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">and </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">protect
human rights defenders, including women human rights defenders, </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">as central agents
translating international political commitments into lived realities.
</span></p>
<ol start="2" style="list-style-type:decimal"><li style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">
<p><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">Stimulates transparency and genuine participation in decision-making at all levels,
</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">throughout all policies including budget, financial, and tax policies. Access to information
and meaningful and effective participation are not only fundamental human rights, but will
also be critical to developing, implementing, and monitoring an effective and responsive
post-2015 framework.
</span></p>
</li><li style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">
<p><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">Integrates meaningful institutions and systems to ensure human rights
accountability of all development actors. </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">Lofty aspirations for a post-2015 agenda will
surely fail if proper </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">citizen-led systems of monitoring and human rights accountability
</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">are not built into the very DNA of the framework, with clear and time-bound commitments of
all relevant actors. While states must remain the primary duty-holder in development, all
development actors, including third-party states, the private sector and international
financial institutions should be made responsive and accountable for achieving and not
undermining global goals. Integrating substantive human rights criteria into assessments of
progress towards development goals and commitments means </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">monitoring both the
policy and budgetary efforts of governments alongside development outcomes. </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">Any
post-2015 monitoring mechanism should complement and reinforce the Universal Periodic
Review process for all states. A framework for ensuring accountability would benefit from
</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">constructive interaction with the existing human rights protection regime, </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">as well as
other relevant accountability mechanisms. In this context, we call for an accountability
framework with binding commitments, supported by effective monitoring and enforcement
mechanisms, to be agreed at the global level. This framework should reaffirm the spirit of
the 1986 Declaration on the Right to Development and it should be based on three
fundamental principles: mutual accountability (donors and partners are equally<br>
accountable for development progress); democratic ownership of partner countries
(alignment of donor countries to policy objectives set by developing countries, through
inclusive and democratic processes); and inclusive partnerships (participation of different
varieties of development stakeholders, State and non-State actors).
</span></p>
</li><li style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">
<p><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">Is backed by national mechanisms of accountability, </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">such as judiciaries, parliaments,
national human rights institutions, reinforced by regional and international human rights
mechanisms such as the treaty bodies and the Universal Periodic Review mechanism, so
as to </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">ensure the implementation </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">of the post-2015 commitments. The post-2015
development agenda is well-placed to encourage governments to </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">improve access to
justice for people living currently in poverty </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">by monitoring measures to eradicate
existing barriers.
</span></p>
</li><li style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">
<p><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">Ensures that the private sector, at the very least, does no harm. </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">The post-2015
framework must reflect current international consensus that governments have a duty to
protect human rights through the </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">proper oversight and regulation of private actors,
</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">especially of business and private financial actors, to </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">guarantee in practice that they
respect human rights and the environment, </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">including in their </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">cross-border activities.
</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">At the very least, no governments should allow their territory to be used for illegal or
criminal activities elsewhere, such as tax evasion, depositing assets obtained through
</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">corruption, environmental crimes or involvement in human rights violations, no matter the
perpetrator.
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<ol start="6" style="list-style-type:decimal"><li style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">
<p><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">Eliminates all forms of discrimination and diminishes inequalities, including
socioeconomic inequalities. </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">Human rights can only be realised within socio-economic
and environmental boundaries if we also reduce inequalities of wealth, power and
resources. Governments have a particular obligation under human rights law to protect the
rights of the most marginalized and excluded, and to take additional measures to </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">ensure
that they enjoy their rights on an equal basis with others. </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">Protecting </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">decent work, and
diminishing unfair wage disparities </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">is also fundamental to reducing socio-economic
inequality, as is </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">reforming tax and fiscal policy and promoting human rights
alternatives to austerity nationally and globally </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">to unleash the resources necessary to
finance human rights fulfillment. The </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">timely collection and disaggregation of data </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">on the
basis of various grounds of compound discrimination is essential to identify, make visible
and respond to inequalities and violations of human rights and to increase accountability. At
a national level, data should be collected and disaggregated based on country-relevant
factors as defined by rights-holders.
</span></p>
</li><li style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">
<p><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">Specifically and comprehensively supports women's rights. </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">Addressing </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">gender-
based violence, </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">guaranteeing </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">sexual and reproductive rights, </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">ensuring women’s rights
to and control over </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">land, property and productive resources </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">and their economic
independence, recognizing </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">the care economy </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">and ensuring women’s rights to social
protection and the equal distribution of </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">paid and unpaid work, </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">and their rights to
</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">participation in decision-making </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">are critical, not only to realize women's human rights
and achieve gender equality, but for enabling women’s full and active participation in
economic, political and social life.
</span></p>
</li><li style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">
<p><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">Enables the currently disadvantaged and commonly discriminated against and
excluded groups to be effective agents of their own development </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">by drawing on the
provisions of human rights standards aimed at eliminating discrimination on grounds such
as race, disability, migrant or indigenous status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity,
etc.
</span></p>
</li><li style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">
<p><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">Upholds the legal obligation to fulfill the minimum essential levels of economic,
social, and cultural rights, without retrogression. </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">This would imply a focus on
</span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">universal or “zero” </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">targets, such as the provision of comprehensive social protection
floors, universal health coverage, minimum food security guarantees, and other floors
below which no one anywhere will be allowed to fall.
</span></p>
</li><li style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">
<p><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">Tackles structural drivers of inequality, poverty and ecological devastation at the
global level. </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">A genuine and balanced global partnership then would enable people and
institutions to monitor the common but differentiated responsibilities of all actors to
eliminate rather than perpetuate these global obstacles. To be good-faith partners then,
governments, business and international institutions must </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700">assess the human rights
impact beyond their borders of their policies and agreements in areas such as
corporate accountability, environment, trade, investment, aid, tax, migration,
intellectual property, debt, weapons trade and military cooperation, monetary
policies and financial regulation. </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">Existing human rights norms can provide a common set
of standards and useful yardstick to assess policy coherence for sustainable development.
</span></p>
</li></ol>
<p><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:'Helvetica'">At a time of great uncertainty, multiple crises and increasing insecurity and conflict, let us not found
the 21st century sustainable development framework on 'bracketed rights’ and broken promises,
but instead on a bold reaffirmation of human rights for all.
</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size:8pt;font-family:'Helvetica';font-weight:700;font-style:oblique">This joint statement is supported by 324 organizations:
</span></p>
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