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Experts urge U.N. to focus on human rights issues in Post-2015 Agenda

UNITED NATIONS, May 21 2013 (IPS) - Call it the height of barbarism or a heinous war crime or a serious case of human rights violation—the video of a Syrian rebel biting into a dead soldier’s body part, was revolting in every sense of the word.

Among other concerns, human rights abuses continue to be a burning issue all over the world–from states in perpetual conflicts to countries undergoing transition.

At a panel discussion Tuesday, human rights experts suggested that the post-2015 development agenda of the United Nations should focus on human rights issues, something that the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) had failed to do.

In order to ensure human rights protection all over the world, the panelists insisted that the post-2015 development agenda should focus on “eliminating inequalities” and promoting accountability.

Calling for an integrated approach, Craig Mokhiber, from the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, who moderated the panel, told IPS, “You have got this international framework where one talks about right to education, right to health, right to food, the right to adequate standard of living.”

“But there are a few things left out of the previous development framework such as equality as a goal,” he added.  Looking at issues through the prism of human rights, there is need to pay attention to other fundamental rights of people all across the world.

The right to development is one such issue, said Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, a professor at The New School for Public Engagement in New York. “The right to development is heavily politicised and hasn’t really gone anywhere,” Parr said.

It is important to consider right to development as a fundamental right, Fukuda-Parr told IPS. “There is right to health, right to bodily integrity and so on. In fact, right to development should be given priority and should also be recognized as part of international agreement,” Fukuda-Parr added.

In fact, human rights based approach to development is the need of the hour, emphasized Mohamed Khaled Khiari, the Permanent Representative of Tunisia to the United Nations.

Drawing from the revolution in Tunisia as well as problems of unemployment and rampant corruption within the country, Khiari said, “Development and human rights are rather mutually reinforcing and complementary. We have to admit that human rights are critical for achieving sustainable development.”

But, sustainable development calls for representation of people from all walks of life as well as people from all strata of society, including those with disabilities.

“People with disability should be included in national consultations,” said Vladimir Cuk who is the head of New York Secretariat of International Disability Alliance.

However, to address all these issues, it is important that a greater level of accountability be enforced within global organizations. “We are seeing a crisis of global governance,” Ignacio Saiz, Executive Director of Center For Economic and Social Rights told IPS.

There is need for more effective mechanisms of accountability at the international level,  “which should look at the actions and inactions of global actors by which I mean international institutions, international financial institutions, donor government or second governments which in some ways are infringing or constraining the actions of governments in the developing world,” Saiz said.

 
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