The Right to Development

A/HRC/RES/39/9View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2018.

What else is in this group?

49 documents · 2000–2026

Newer documents in this group exist (latest: 2026).

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2026	A/HRC/RES/63/3	The right to development	3,367	–
2025	A/RES/80/207	The right to development	5,093	–
2025	A/HRC/RES/60/7	The right to development	3,357	–
2024	A/RES/79/170	The right to development	5,367	–
2024	A/HRC/RES/57/19	The right to development	3,234	–

This group bundles related documents that are not individually ordered.

What subjects does this mandate have?

6 subjects

Development Indicators International Instruments Report Preparation Right to Development Standards Sustainable Development

What’s in this document?

28 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the consolidated report of the Secretary-General and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the right to development;²

²A/HRC/39/18.

Requests the High Commissioner to continue to submit to the Human Rights Council an annual report on the activities of the Office of the High Commissioner, including on inter-agency coordination within the United Nations system that have direct relevance to the realization of the right to development, and to provide an analysis of its implementation, taking into account existing challenges and making recommendations on how to overcome them, in her next annual report;

Urges the High Commissioner to pursue her efforts, in fulfilment of her mandated responsibility, to enhance support for the promotion and protection of the realization of the right to development, taking as reference the Declaration on the Right to Development, all resolutions of the General Assembly, the Commission on Human Rights and the Human Rights Council on the right to development, and agreed conclusions and recommendations of the Working Group on the Right to Development;

Requests the Office of the High Commissioner, in the implementation of the Declaration on the Right to Development, to take sufficient measures to ensure balanced and visible allocation of resources and due attention to ensure the visibility of the right to development by identifying and implementing tangible projects dedicated to the right to development, in collaboration with the Special Rapporteur on the right to development, and to provide regular updates to the Human Rights Council in this regard;

Recognizes the need for renewed efforts towards intensifying deliberations in the Working Group to fulfil, at the earliest, its mandate as established by the Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 1998/72 and the Human Rights Council in its resolution 4/4;

Acknowledges the need to strive for greater acceptance, operationalization and realization of the right to development at the international level while urging all States to undertake at the national level the necessary policy formulation and to institute the measures required for the implementation of the right to development as an integral part of all human rights and fundamental freedoms;

Welcomes the celebrations held in 2016 to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development, including the annual high-level panel discussion on human rights mainstreaming, with the theme “The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and human rights, with an emphasis on the right to development”, convened at the thirty-first session of the Human Rights Council, the panel discussion on the promotion and protection of the right to development, convened at the thirty-second session of the Council, and the high-level segment of the General Assembly to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development, held at the seventy-first session of the Assembly, which provided a unique opportunity to Member States to demonstrate and reiterate their political commitment, to accord the right to development the great attention it deserves and to redouble their efforts towards the realization of the right to development;

Also welcomes the report of the Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on the Right to Development on its nineteenth session;³

³A/HRC/39/56.

Stresses the importance of the core principles contained in the conclusions of the Working Group at its third session⁴ that are congruent with the purpose of international human rights instruments, such as equality, non-discrimination, accountability, participation and international cooperation, as critical to mainstreaming the right to development at the national and international levels, and underlines the importance of the principles of equity and transparency;

⁴See E/CN.4/2002/28/Rev.1.

Welcomes the re-election of the Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group and the skill with which he led the discussions at the nineteenth session;

Notes the presentation to the Working Group at its nineteenth session of the set of standards for the implementation of the right to development prepared by the Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group,⁵ which is a useful basis for further deliberations on the implementation and realization of the right to development;

⁵A/HRC/WG.2/17/2.

Acknowledges the preparation by the secretariat of a paper containing comments and views submitted by Governments, groups of Governments, regional groups and stakeholders on the criteria and operational subcriteria of the right to development;⁶

⁶A/HRC/WG.2/18/CRP.1.

Acknowledges with appreciation the proposal by the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries on a set of standards regarding the implementation and realization of the right to development⁷ and its further contributions aimed at finalizing the criteria and subcriteria of the right to development;⁸

⁷A/HRC/WG.2/18/G/1.

⁸See A/HRC/WG.2/18/CRP.1.

Requests the High Commissioner to facilitate the participation of experts in the twentieth session of the Working Group, to provide advice with a view to contributing to discussions on the implementation and realization of the right to development, including the implications of the 2030 Agenda, and looks forward to the possible engagement of the Working Group with the high-level political forum on sustainable development;

Welcomes the report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to development submitted to the Human Rights Council,⁹ and requests him to pay particular attention to the implementation of the right to development, which facilitates the full enjoyment of human rights, in accordance with his mandate;

⁹A/HRC/39/51.

Also welcomes the consultations with States and the regional consultations already held by the Special Rapporteur on the implementation of the right to development;

Decides:

To continue to act to ensure that its agenda promotes and advances sustainable development and the achievement of the remaining Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals, and in this regard lead to raising the right to development, as set out in paragraphs 5 and 10 of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, to the same level and on a par with all other human rights and fundamental freedoms;

To endorse the recommendations of the Working Group adopted at its nineteenth session;

That the Working Group shall take into account Human Rights Council resolutions 9/3 and 36/9;

That the Working Group shall invite the Special Rapporteur, in consultation with Member States, to provide his views on the work of the Working Group and its relevant agenda items, at its twentieth session;

That the Working Group at its twentieth session shall commence the discussion to elaborate a draft legally binding instrument on the right to development through a collaborative process of engagement, including on the content and scope of the future instrument;

That the Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group shall prepare a draft legally binding instrument on the basis of the discussions held during the twentieth session of the Working Group and the resource material from previous Working Group sessions to serve as a basis for substantive negotiations on a draft legally binding instrument, commencing at its twenty-first session;

Requests the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee, while taking into account the views of Member States, to prepare a research-based report on the importance of a legally binding instrument on the right to development, to present an oral update on the preparation of the report to the Council at its forty-second session, and to present the report to the Council at its forty-fifth session;

Requests the Special Rapporteur to participate in relevant international dialogues and policy forums relating to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, including the high-level political forum on sustainable development, financing for development, climate change and disaster risk reduction, with a view to enhancing the integration of the right to development into these forums and dialogues, and requests Member States, international organizations, United Nations agencies, regional economic commissions and other relevant organizations to facilitate the meaningful participation of the Special Rapporteur in these forums and dialogues;

Invites the Special Rapporteur to provide advice to States, international financial and economic institutions and other relevant entities, the corporate sector and civil society on measures to achieve the goals and targets relating to the means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for the full realization of the right to development;

Encourages relevant bodies of the United Nations system, within their respective mandates, including United Nations specialized agencies, funds and programmes, relevant international organizations, such as the World Trade Organization and relevant stakeholders, including civil society organizations, to give due consideration to the right to development in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, to contribute further to the work of the Working Group and to cooperate with the High Commissioner and the Special Rapporteur in the fulfilment of their mandates with regard to the implementation of the right to development;

Decides to review the progress of the implementation of the present resolution, as a matter of priority, at its future sessions.

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