GI-ESCR Comments Regarding UN High Level Panel Report on Post-2015 Development Framework

The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR) welcomes some positive aspects of the UN High Level Report entitled A New Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies Through Sustainable Development, but is concerned that the report fails to fully place international human rights at the core of the post-2015 development agenda.  Human rights standards, including economic, social and cultural rights standards, are clearly defined and should be used as the foundation and means of implementation of any forthcoming development framework.

The Report, which addresses the post-2015 global development framework, acknowledged that the MDGs fell short by not integrating the economic, social, and environmental aspects of sustainable development as envisaged in the Millennium Declaration, and by not addressing the need to promote sustainable patterns of consumption and production.

According to Bret Thiele, Co-Executive Director of the GI-ESCR, "while we had hoped that the report would go further at challenging the current economic paradigm, the report does acknowledge inequalities and the need to ensure that participatory processes guide development." He added that "the recognition of environmental protection, including the challenge of climate change, as linked to human development marks a positive shift from the MDG framework yet human rights are treated more as rhetoric than as a core framework by which to guide, implement and monitor development."

Mayra Gomez, Co-Executive Director of the GI-ESCR, pointed out that the "inclusion of the gender dimensions of land rights is critical to ensuring women’s empowerment and sustainable development in the future. We know that women’s land rights have a profoundly transformative impact in terms of fostering gender equality, increasing food and nutritional security, and improving environmental sustainability. It was promising to see that the High Level Panel’s report included suggested Target 1b, which in part seeks to increase the share of women with secure rights to land and property.”

While the Report is a positive development, and clearly states that the next development framework must be based on human rights, advocates must build upon these pronouncements and continue to ensure that the full spectrum of civil, cultural, economic, political and social human rights are at the core of any post-2015 development framework. Such advocacy is crucial to ensure that human rights move from rhetoric to reality.

 The full Report can be accessed HERE.