xxxxxxxxxx | Roundtable dialogue on building state capacity to meet the MDGs: human rights, governance, institutions and human resources | xxxxxxxxxx |
29 June 2005 New York Mehr Khan Williams Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights MDGs and Human Rights Madame Chair Excellencies Ladies and gentlemen The MDGs offer one of the most important opportunities ever to realize the human rights of millions of people including their right to development. The achievement of the goals is critical. But equally important are the processes by which they are achieved. How that is done will determine to a large extent the long-term sustainability of the goals and their contribution to the effective enjoyment of human rights. Properly carried out the processes will in themselves build an environment conducive to the attainment of all rights by all people: which, after all, is the ultimate goal of all our endeavours. Our discussion today is on building state capacity to meet the MDGs. I will focus on key elements which provide the framework for the human rights approach. At a minimum, the rights based approach must address three concerns: non-discrimination, meaningful participation and accountability. 1. Non-discrimination is a central concern. A relatively easy way to reach the targets is to focus on providing access to services to those who can be most easily reached. But if states are to follow a human rights approach, they must identify the poorest people who are currently the most marginalized and make sure that they are included. This will be more challenging, and perhaps also more expensive, but it is essential to do not only because it is the right thing to do but also because it will help to ensure that marginalization and disparities do not increase. For example, in East Asia, the goal of primary education has been nearly achieved. But the children who are not yet in school are mostly ethnic minority girls who live in remote and poor areas. Research has shown that they form the bulk of the children in the region who are trafficked and exploited. States must ensure that data is disaggregated so that these children become visible, are appropriately targeted in development plans, and progress for them can be measured. 1. Turning to the issue of participation, the challenge is to craft meaningful means of participation that do not over-burden the development process. Community capacity to participate will have to be built and legal frameworks and policies created. Development practitioners know that people who benefit from development programmes should be involved in designing solutions that take into account their views and needs. But building appropriate participation is difficult. At a very minimum participation should include the right to express one's opinions freely, the right to assembly and association, to information and to access to justice. 2. A third key element is accountability. A human rights approach empowers people to make claims against those who have a duty to respond. It asks us to build the capacities of rights-holders to claim their rights and duty bearers to fulfill their obligations. This must be done in a transparent manner through the creation of responsible, effective and efficient institutions. For example, in education, it might involve strengthening the capacity of the education authorities at both the national and sub-national levels to provide quality primary education to all children and to remove all barriers whether financial or cultural. It could range from the provision of toilets and clean water in schools to the provision of primary instruction in local languages. It also means that states will have to help children and parents as rights holders to claim their right to education through human rights awareness-raising, participatory decision making and a right to complain about progress by the ministry or by other duty bearers. We have many examples of how states are taking up these challenges and building sustainable progress towards the achievement of the MDGs. Among the most important are those that adopt rights-baesd strategies, and rights-sensitive approaches to poverty reduction. |