44th session of the UN Human Rights Council

30 June - 17 July 2020

The 44th session of the Human Rights Council was unlike any other session of the Council, as it occurred amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. Whilst there were ‘socially distanced’ physical meetings at Palais des Nations in Geneva, the majority of participants followed the meetings on-line and presented oral statements via video. There were no in-person side events and very limited possibilities to meet with delegates in the hallways and cafes. Some agenda items and State initiatives were postponed to later sessions and whilst technology enabled the remote participation of some delegates who would not otherwise have had the opportunity to participate, technological glitches disrupted some meetings and restricted the participation of some delegates. Further, the delayed and frequently changing decisions and information about the program and modalities impaired the ability of participants to meaningfully engage.

Nevertheless, the Council managed to hold all of the scheduled meetings and to adopt numerous resolutions and decisions. The Council’s efforts to proceed in the context of the COVID-19 restrictions are to be applauded and the session produced some important advances for remote civil society participation which should be continued after the pandemic. The Council was also able to advance on substantive human rights issues, such as the new resolution on racial discrimination, responding to the huge protests against police violence and racial discrimination in the US.

This Update provides a summary of the initiatives regarding economic, social and cultural (ESC) rights at the 44th session of the Human Rights Council (June/July 2020). It provides information about:

Right to Health

The Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to health, Mr Dainius Pūras, addressed a rights-based global agenda for advancing the right to mental health’ (A/HRC/44/48).

Learn more

“There is no health without mental health” and “no good mental health without human rights” said the Special Rapporteur on the right to health in his final report to the UN Human Rights Council. Mr Dainius Pūras finished his six year mandate in July 2020 and dedicated his last report to elaborating a rights-based global agenda for advancing the right to mental health (A/HRC/44/48).

The first section of the report considers the relationship between context and different understandings of mental health, as well as the role of power dynamics, the limits of standardised approaches, and the need for measurement systems to focus on “structural conditions and root causes”. It states that “The right to mental health is best enabled through the convergence of human rights and health determinants, where research and action on the structural, political and social determinants of distress, including poverty, inequality, discrimination and violence, are considered vital.”

The report then considers over-medicalization and threats to human rights more broadly. It points out that an excessive reliance on medical approaches can deflect from the complexity of human behaviour, “implying that there exists a concrete, mechanistic (and often paternalistic) solution.” Medicalization can “pathologize responses to social inequities and escalate social control and violations of rights in vulnerable populations”, with children and the aged at particular risk. The report proceeds to explore rights-based alternatives to coercive medical interventions. It elaborates upon several key principles that should guide transformative rights-based practices, such as the need to ensure “dignity and autonomy”.

Finally the Special Rapporteur identifies several global threats and future trends. These include climate change, which has consequences for both physical and mental health. For example, the report stresses that the “emotional and existential realization of the magnitude of the climate problem and the often shockingly limited responses are increasingly experienced, particularly by children and young people.” In this context, “a rights-based approach, with mental health at its heart, can strengthen climate responses, fortify community relationships and citizen activism, and improve sustainability and well-being.”

In addition to this thematic report, the Special Rapporteur presented his country visit report on Ecuador (A/HRC/44/48/Add.1).

Resolution on the role of the State in responding to pandemics

Whilst there was no resolution specifically on the right to health, there was an interesting new resolution presented by Namibia, South Africa and Pakistan which was adopted without a vote, on “The central role of the State in responding to pandemics and other health emergencies, and the socioeconomic consequences thereof in advancing sustainable development and the realization of all human rights” (A/HRC/44/2).

The resolution, which responds directly to the COVID-19 pandemic, recognises the central role of the State in responding to pandemics and health emergencies and of international co-operation, which it states must be in compliance with the UN Charter and respect both sovereignty and national priorities. It also insists that State measures must be consistent with their obligations under international human rights law.

Noting the importance of “timely, equitable and unhindered access to safe, affordable, effective and quality medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics” for an effective response to the pandemic, and the “role of extensive immunization against COVID-19 as a global public good for health”, the resolution calls for “universal, timely and equitable access to and fair distribution of all quality, safe, efficacious and affordable essential health technologies and products” as a global priority, with the urgent removal of “unjustified barriers” in accordance with the WTO and TRIPS Agreements.

Concretely, the resolution asks the High Commissioner for Human Rights to “conduct a needs assessment, in particular for developing countries, to support their efforts to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in responding to pandemics and other health emergencies, and the socioeconomic consequences thereof, in advancing sustainable development and the realization of all human rights” and submit a report on that topic to the Council at its 47th session (June 2021).

Right to education

The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Ms Koumbou Boly Barry, presented her thematic report on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the right to education (A/HRC/44/39).

Learn more

In her report on the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on the right to education across the world, the Special Rapporteur paints a bleak picture. The closure of schools and universities has affected more than 1.5 billion learners and quoting a UNESCO report, she notes that 191 States have closed their schools at both national and local levels. According to the Special Rapporteur, the assessment of the crisis must be made within the overall context of the world's public education systems, which are marked by low funding and inequalities in access to education. She points out that “258 million children and youth were already out of school before the pandemic, including children with disabilities. About 773 million persons today remain illiterate, a great part of them being women living in the lower income countries.”

The Special Rapporteur also emphasizes that the relevant human rights treaties, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, do not contain a derogation clause that allows a State not to comply with its treaty obligations because of a crisis. Instead, states must guarantee the right to education despite the crisis. If measures are taken that are likely to limit this right, they must be necessary, reasonable, proportionate and lifted as soon as they are no longer needed. Further, Ms Boly Barry explains, such measures must not violate the principle of the best interests of the child, nor restrict his or her right to education (Articles 3(1) and 28 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child).

Despite the fact that no one was prepared for this crisis, the Special Rapporteur insists that States must devote the maximum of their available resources to the progressive realization of the full enjoyment of the rights recognized in the Covenant. She also denounces the excessive use of distance learning tools which, in her view, can increase inequalities. Quoting again from the UNESCO report, she notes that “half of the total number of learners (about 826 million students) kept out of the classroom by the COVID-19 pandemic do not have access to a household computer and 43 percent (706 million) have no internet at home. Disparities are particularly acute in low-income countries: in sub-Saharan Africa, 89 per cent of learners do not have access to household computers and 82 percent lack internet access”.

Online education also raises other problems, particularly with regard to: children with disabilities (learners who are deaf or hard of hearing or blind are excluded from this type of education); the lack of human interaction between teachers and learners; the increasing involvement of private actors and the risk of a decrease in public resources allocated to education; the protection of data, and the data privacy of teachers and learners. On these last two points, Ms Boly Barry invites States to monitor the involvement of private actors through existing standards, including the Abidjan Principles. She also recalls that the Abidjan Principles require states to set standards for “privacy and data protection, ensuring in particular respect for the rule of law and ethical practices with regards to personal data”.

Finally, the SR is concerned about the closure of private schools. She cites the example of Kenya, where the commercial school chain Bridge International Academies has put teachers on compulsory unpaid leave, covering health insurance and a monthly payment equivalent to 10% of their salary. In Liberia, the same company reportedly imposed an 80-90 per cent reduction in the salaries of key staff while employees still work from home.

In addition to her thematic report, the Special Rapporteur presented her country visit reports on Qatar (A/HRC/44/39/Add.1) and Tunisia (A/HRC/44/39/Add.2).

Resolution on the right to education

The Council adopted a resolution (A/HRC/44/3) on the right to education extending the mandate of the Special Rapporteur for a further three years. The resolution encourages the mandate holder to “continue to take into account and support the implementation of the education-related Sustainable Development Goals and targets, the provisions of Human Rights Council resolutions on the right to education, and a gender perspective.”

The UN Working Group on discrimination against women and girls has published a dedicated website on Women’s Human Rights in the Changing World of Work - HERE

Women’s & Girls’ economic, social and cultural rights

The Working Group on discrimination against women and girls presented its thematic report on Women’s human rights in the changing world of work (A/HRC/44/51).

Learn more

The report begins with a broad description of the context in which women experience work, elaborating on issues such as the persistence of structural discrimination and occupational segregation.

The report then proceeds to outline the opportunities and challenges for women’s human rights that emerge from the changing world of work. It considers the effects of technological and demographic changes, as well as the implications of accelerated globalization and the increased focus on sustainability and just transitions. Regarding the latter, for example, the report stresses that the transition to the green economy “holds potential opportunities for women’s employment”, with women “more likely to work in the renewable energy sector, as compared with fossil fuels”.

According to the Working Group, action to ensure that new trends do not exacerbate discrimination against women must target five key focus areas: ensuring freedom from violence and harassment; recognizing, reducing and redistributing unpaid care and domestic work; disrupting patterns of “women’s” and “men’s” work; ensuring all women workers can enjoy their rights without discrimination; and supporting women’s collective action and organizing. For instance, the report draws attention to the potential for women’s cooperatives and self-help groups to “support women’s livelihoods and strengthen their agency”.

The report also points out that in order to realise women’s human rights in the changing world of work there must be a “fundamental transformation of the structure of work and the economy”. In this regard, an “enabling economic policy framework for women’s human rights would centre on the realization of human rights, rather than focus narrowly on gross domestic product; prioritize equitable redistribution over wealth accumulation; facilitate investments in public services and infrastructure, increase pensions and social security and raise minimum wages, instead of providing tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy”.

Annual full-day discussion on the elimination of discrimination against women and girls

The annual full-day discussion on the elimination of discrimination against women and girls was held over 2 panel discussions. The first panel discussion addressed “Accountability for women and girls in humanitarian settings” and the second looked at COVID-19 and women’s rights. The second panel heard testimonies from women residents of informal settlements in Kenya about their experiences during the pandemic. Other speakers included UN Women, the UN Population Fund and the Foreign Affairs Minister of Spain. A summary report of the panel will be presented to the Council at a future session.

Resolution on discrimination against women and girls

The Council adopted its annual resolution on the elimination of discrimination against women and girls (A/HRC/RES/44/17) making detailed recommendations to States about how to eliminate discrimination against women and girls, including: addressing stereotypes that view women and girls as subordinates or that underlie and perpetuate multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls; support substantive gender equality, including within families, by promoting measures for the equal sharing of unpaid care work, the burden of which the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated for women and girls; and removing barriers to women’s participation in public and private sector decision-making and leadership.

The resolution also addresses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, urging States to: prevent and respond to the increase in violence against women and girls amid the COVID-19 pandemic; take a human rights-based, gender-responsive and intersectional approach in their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic; and gather sex, age and disability-disaggregated data on the pandemic.

Human rights, climate change & environment

During the 44th session of the Human Rights Council there were a number of different initiatives relating to climate change and environment:

Report of the OHCHR on the promotion and protection of the rights of persons with disabilities in the context of climate change;
Report of the Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity, on international solidarity in the context of climate change;
Panel discussion on climate change and the human rights of persons with disabilities;
Full-day meeting on realizing the rights of the child through a healthy environment.

Learn more

At the request of the Human Rights Council, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights conducted an analytical study on the promotion and protection of the rights of persons with disabilities in the context of climate change (A/HRC/44/30).

The study begins by outlining several ways in which persons with disabilities are at particular risk from the adverse impacts of climate change. It stresses that the “majority of persons with disabilities live in poverty” and spells out the various ways in which sudden-onset natural disasters and slow-onset events can have a serious impact on disabled persons’ health, food security, housing, mobility and livelihood, as well as their access to water, sanitation and decent work.

Regarding mobility, for example, the report points out that climate change induced extreme weather events result in large scale migration. The most marginalised are often unable to migrate and those with disabilities are “at risk of being left behind in a degraded environment without social and support networks when members of their family or community move because of climate change impacts.”

The next section of the report sets out a disability-inclusive human rights-based approach to climate action. It first identifies several key legal and policy instruments that should inform such an approach, drawing attention to relevant elements of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway.

For instance, the report elaborates upon pertinent provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, such as the obligation for states to “actively involve and consult with persons with disabilities in decision-making on matters that are affecting their lives, including climate change.” It also highlights several statements by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, including the joint statement that the Committee issued with four other human rights treaty bodies before the 2019 Climate Action Summit, which stressed “the need for persons with disabilities to be recognized as agents of change and essential partners in climate action”.

The report then outlines an operational framework for a disability-inclusive human rights-based approach to climate change. Key components include the integration of the standards of core human rights treaties into all policies and programs, and the need to ensure “evidence-based decision-making that takes into account the requirements of persons with disabilities”.

The study also makes clear that emergency information, education, infrastructure and services must be inclusive and accessible to all people. In this context, it is emphasised that a “just transition” presents an opportunity to maximise the employment opportunities of persons with disabilities by “offering accessible development of green skills and green job employment services” and “ensuring that green contracts and green jobs promote disability inclusion”. Similarly, rebuilding of housing and infrastructure following extreme weather events and natural disasters should follow the principle of “building back better”, with “products, environments, programmes and services” designed so as to be “usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible”.

The report identifies a range of good practices that promote disability-inclusive, human rights-based climate action. For example, in El Salvador, the Intersectoral Technical Health Commission has “made efforts to identify the specific requirements of persons with disabilities as part of its preparations for environmental threats and disasters.”

In the final section, the report presents a number of recommendations. Inter alia, it calls on states to empower persons with disabilities as economic, social, human rights and climate actors by including them “as an integral constituency in the development of the new green economy.”

International solidarity and climate change

The Report of the Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity, Obiora Chinedu Okafor, focuses on the issue of human rights-based international solidarity in the context of climate change (A/HRC/44/44). Find a pdf of this summary here.

The report begins by providing a general background on human rights-based international solidarity in the context of climate change, before turning to identify positive expressions of this form of solidarity. It highlights a variety of commendable laws and practices that have been undertaken at the global, regional, state and local levels. New Zealand and Bangladesh are singled out for praise, the former for “prioritizing well-being over economic growth” and the latter for having “devised a climate change and gender action plan to account for the risks to, and positive contributions of, women.”

The report recognises a number of positive expressions of human-rights based solidarity across civil society, highlighting in particular the actions of young persons, indigenous peoples and environmental defenders. It also draws attention to the efforts of the global labour movement to ensure “a just transition towards a sustainable economy”.

The report then identifies gaps in human rights-based international solidarity in the context of climate change. It explores: the implications of transforming the fossil fuel economy; the need to reform corporate laws and practices that harm the climate; the inadequacy of efforts to provide vulnerable states with financial and technological support; and the need to secure access to justice for countries, individuals and groups that are particularly affected by climate change.

For example, the report points out that the transition away from fossil fuels poses a dual challenge to international solidarity. On one hand, the behaviour of states and corporations that continue to exploit fossil fuels “does not reflect the highest possible ambition, nor cooperation, and it compromises the human rights of peoples around the world”. However, there may also “be unfair outcomes of restructuring the fossil fuel economy on the rights to an adequate standard of living in the poorest of the States that produce fossil fuels.” In this context, what is missing is “genuine global cooperation on a managed transition away from unsustainable fossil fuels that prioritizes the achievement of justice for the most vulnerable peoples, especially in the global South”.

The report concludes by offering a series of recommendations that would strengthen international solidarity. This includes a recommendation that states agree “a treaty to regulate the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises under international human rights law to – in part – help correct the inability, or unwillingness, of States to regulate the contributions that such entities make to climate change”.

Panel discussion on climate change and the human rights of persons with disabilities

The Council held a panel discussion on good practices and lessons learned in the promotion and protection of the rights of persons with disabilities in the context of the adverse impacts of climate change. The panel included the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities and representatives of organisations of persons with disabilities from the Philippines and Uganda. Panelists discussed how people who are culturally, economically, institutionally, politically, socially or otherwise marginalized, such as persons with disabilities, are particularly at risk of harm from the adverse effects of climate change. They insisted on the importance of a disability-inclusive human rights-based approach to climate change, which entails that climate action is inclusive of and accountable to persons with disabilities, and ensures the empowerment of persons with disabilities as agents of change.

Annual full-day meeting on realizing the rights of the child through a healthy environment

The Human Rights Council held its annual full-day meeting on the rights of the child, this year focusing on the theme “Realizing the rights of the child through a healthy environment”. The meeting was comprised of two panel discussions, the first on “A healthy environment as a child rights concern: setting the scene” and the second on “Ensuring children’s rights through a healthy environment: a call to action”.

The meeting included presentations by the Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, representatives of UNICEF and WHO, the Ambassadors of Uruguay and the EU and from child human rights defenders from Côte d’Ivoire and Colombia.

Report of the OHCHR on realizing the rights of the child through a healthy environment

At the request of the Human Rights Council, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights prepared a report on the theme of “Realizing the rights of the child through a healthy environment” (A/HRC/43/30).

The report considers the impacts that different forms of environmental degradation have on children. After beginning with a general overview of the adverse effects of climate change, it proceeds to outline the harms that result from exposure to air pollution, contaminated water, electronic waste, pesticides, toxic metals, and infant toys and foods. Exposure to these harms is often a consequence of business activities, with the report highlighting child labour as a particularly problematic practice. For example, it points out that “components for smartphones, electric car batteries and other electronic products expose child miners to toxicants”.

The report then identifies the international legal obligations of states to prevent the adverse impacts of environmental degradation on human rights, including children’s rights. Drawing from the work of several UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies, it makes clear that “when children cannot enjoy their right to a healthy and safe environment, their other rights are seriously affected, including their rights to life, survival and development, to health, to water and sanitation, to an adequate standard of living, including food and housing, to culture, to play, to education, to bodily integrity, to freedom from economic exploitation, to information and to participation”.

Turning to state obligations, the report establishes that “States have an obligation and businesses a responsibility to identify, prevent and mitigate children’s exposure to environmental health risks.” It is stressed that children face particular barriers to justice in the context of environmental harm, as they “may lack information about the effects of particular harms or the effects may become manifest years after exposure, which may make it difficult or impossible to bring a case”.

Gathering together a variety of international, regional and national good practices, the report welcomes the 2019 Declaration on Children, Youth and Climate Action, as well as developments in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights that link environmental degradation with human rights and the fact that Bolivia, El Salvador, Mexico and Paraguay have introduced legislation recognizing the right of children to a healthy, ecological and sustainable environment.

The final section of the report details seventeen recommendations for states, including the proposal that they “integrate the human right to a healthy environment into national constitutions and legislation, and recognize this right at the global level.” Several further recommendations are reserved for corporate entities. For instance, the report states that businesses should “identify, prevent and mitigate exposure by children to toxicants and environmental degradation through their activities, products or business relationships”.

Resolution on human rights and climate change

The annual resolution on human rights and climate change was again put forward by Vietnam, the Philippines and Bangladesh and was adopted without a vote. As in previous years, the resolution (A/HRC/44/7) selected a theme on which to focus for the next mandated activities. This year the resolution focused on the rights of older persons in the context of climate change. It called on States to “develop, strengthen and implement policies for the protection of the right of older persons in response to climate change, as appropriate, by, among other actions, the inclusion of their rights, specific risks, needs and capabilities in climate action plans and other relevant policies or legislation, the mainstreaming of climate change action into resilient and adaptive social and health care, and the provision of information on climate change and disaster preparedness response and planning through all accessible means of communication”. The resolution also urged States to promote the participation of older persons in climate and disaster-risk reduction decision-making and management.

Through this resolution, States decided to hold a panel discussion at the Council’s 47th session (June 2021) on "the adverse impact of climate change on the full and effective enjoyment of human rights by older persons and best practices and lessons learned in the promotion and protection of the rights of older persons”. They also mandated the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to conduct a study on “the promotion and protection of the rights of older persons in the context of climate change, including their particular vulnerabilities, such as physical and mental health risks, and their contributions to efforts to address the adverse impact of climate change” and to present it at the June 2021 session of the Council.

Extreme Poverty and Human Rights

The recently appointed Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Mr Olivier De Schutter, presented his first thematic report to the Council at this session. The report was drafted by the outgoing Special Rapporteur, Mr Philip Alston, who took the opportunity to craft a strongly worded message on “The parlous state of poverty eradication” (A/HRC/44/40). The report takes as its starting point the notion that the COVID-19 pandemic, economic recession, devastating climate change, extreme inequality and anti-racist movements have brought the world to an “existential crossroads”.

In the first part of the report, Alston develops a stringent critique of the “triumphalist” narrative that extreme poverty is in the process of being eradicated. At the heart of this critique lies the notion that celebratory accounts of progress rely on the World Bank’s international poverty line (IPL) as a basis from which to make claims about a fall in rates of extreme poverty. The IPL, an absolute measure derived from the average of the national poverty lines adopted by some of the world’s poorest states, is currently US $1.90 per day and well below the national poverty lines of most countries.

Alston points out that the line reflects “a staggeringly low standard of living” and questions whether it can even ensure access to the meager set of basic needs that it is designed to cover. Drawing from a range of different studies and alternative poverty lines, he faults the IPL for: neglecting societal differences in the basic goods necessary to escape poverty; obscuring gender inequalities by assuming that all resources are shared equally within households; failing to account for the under-representation of groups such as refugees in survey data; and failing to reflect the fact that much of the progress towards poverty eradication results from developments in just one country, China. Using a more defensible line “generates a radically different understanding of progress against poverty”, showing only modest reductions. In this context, COVID-19 – a “pandemic of poverty” – has led most actors to double down on an approach to poverty alleviation that is “clearly failing”.

The second part of the report makes the case that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are inadequate and in need of revitalisation. Alston points out that targets set under SDG 1 (no poverty) “do not actually seek to eliminate poverty”, whilst SDG 10 (reduced inequality) focuses on inclusive growth and “sidesteps necessary questions around wealth redistribution”. Moreover, the SDGs marginalise questions of empowerment, funding, partnership, and accountability, all of which should be central to any viable theory of change. Alston argues that COVID-19 and the resulting economic fallout should provide an impetus to revisit this “increasingly out-of-date approach”. He points out that the SDG growth targets are “almost impossible to achieve without far exceeding the Paris Agreement’s inadequate limit of 2°C of global warming by 2100”.

The report makes clear that failure to eradicate poverty is “a political choice” and proposes several steps that should form the basis for a new campaign to “really end poverty”. These steps include re-conceiving the relationship between growth and poverty elimination, directly confronting inequality, engaging in large scale debt forgiveness, and promoting tax justice. In addition, Alston calls for serious engagement with social protection “both as a human right and as a genuinely indispensable element of any poverty elimination strategy”. He stresses that governments must play a central role in poverty alleviation and points out that growing dependence on philanthropic giving is “no replacement for an equitable tax system or robust publicly funded programs that fulfill the human rights of all people”. Finally, the focus of the international community must move away from the IPL. Indeed, “only when the goal of realizing the human right to an adequate standard of living replaces the World Bank’s miserable subsistence line will the international community be on track to eliminate extreme poverty.”

Resolution on extreme poverty and human rights

The Council adopted by consensus a resolution on extreme poverty and human rights (A/HRC/RES/44/13), expressing deep concern about “the loss of life and livelihoods and the disruption to economies and societies caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and its negative impact on the enjoyment of human rights around the world”.

The resolution extends the mandate of the Special Rapporteur for a further three years and invites him to dedicate his next report to “the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the enjoyment of all human rights by persons in extreme poverty, identifying challenges and including recommendations and good practices to ensure that no one is left behind in the adoption and implementation of crisis management and post-crisis recovery plans”. It also requests him to participate in relevant international dialogues relating to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and to undertake thematic research with a view to advising States and relevant State institutions on the eradication of extreme poverty in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, including with reference to targets 1.1, 1.3, 1.4 and 1.5 of the Sustainable Development Goals and other goals and targets related to extreme poverty.

Mr Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights

Next Session

The next Council session will be held from 14 September to 6 October 2020. It is likely that the modalities will again be very restricted due to the on-going pandemic. Hopefully the process and technical requirements for on-line participation will be improved, learning from the difficulties at the 44th session.

The provisional Program of Work is available HERE. The ESC rights related topics on the agenda include: