The Role of Good Governance in the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights

A/HRC/RES/51/5View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 3Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2022.

What other versions does this mandate have?

8 versions · 2008–2024

This is an older version — the most recent is A/HRC/RES/57/5

2024A/HRC/RES/57/5The role of good governance in the promotion and protection of human rightsLatestCompare with previous version
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2020A/HRC/RES/45/9The role of good governance in the promotion and protection of human rightsCompare with previous version
2018A/HRC/RES/37/6The role of good governance in the promotion and protection of human rightsCompare with previous version
2016A/HRC/RES/31/14The role of good governance in the promotion and protection of human rightsCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

7 topics

Communication Technology Digital Divide Governance Human Rights Information Technology Internet Public Administration

What does this mandate say?

22 operative paragraphs

Welcomes the convening on 22 June 2022 of a panel discussion on good governance in the promotion and protection of human rights during and after the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic;

Recognizes that international human rights law provides a set of standards to guide governing processes and to assess performance outcomes, and in this regard stresses that good governance is necessary for establishing and maintaining an environment conducive to the promotion and protection of human rights;

Reaffirms that the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online;

Notes with concern that many forms of the digital divide remain between and within countries, and between men and women, boys and girls, older and younger persons and persons with disabilities, and recognizing the need to close them;

Acknowledges that many countries all over the world need support in terms of expanding infrastructure, technological cooperation and capacity-building, including human and institutional capacity-building, to ensure the accessibility, affordability and availability of the Internet in order to bridge digital divides, to offer a digital dividend to all people and to meet the Sustainable Development Goal targets;

Urges States to ensure the right of every person to have access, on equal terms, to public services in his or her country by using new communications technology and global interconnectedness, technological innovation and organizational solutions to respond in the best possible way to the needs of people confronted with the risks of crises;

Also urges States to progressively take steps to expand Internet access in order to provide public services accessible to all, especially the poor and those at most risk of social exclusion, thereby rectifying imbalances in access to information and the communications technology currently available and ensuring their participation in public life;

Further urges States to maintain and enhance efforts to promote access to diverse and reliable information on the Internet as one means of facilitating affordable and inclusive education, health, justice and other public services globally, underlining the need to address digital literacy and digital divides;

Encourages States to address any weaknesses in the way public services are being delivered, including in the areas of health, education and justice, and to increase accessibility to them, including through new information and communications technology;

Also encourages States to promote an open, secure, stable, accessible and peaceful information and communications technology environment based on respect for international law, including the obligations enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and international human rights instruments, and to address the risks that misuse of information and communications technology may have for the protection, promotion and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms;

Further encourages States to consider developing transparency practices, such as e-procurement, open contracting and spending dashboards, to detect and deter corruption risks in government contracts and purchases;

Welcomes the commitments made by all States in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to good governance in the promotion and protection of human rights, including by using strengthened means of technology and embracing their implementation;

Underlines that the primary responsibility lies with States at the national level, including through their constitutional provisions and other enabling legislation, consistent with their international obligations, to ensure that professional public services uphold the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity and are predicated on good governance principles, including impartiality, the rule of law, transparency, accountability, participation, inclusivity and combating corruption, and stresses the importance of human rights training and education in this regard;

Invites the Secretary-General to ensure the upholding of the integrity of the United Nations system in its service to humanity, and improved coordination between United Nations agencies, programmes and funds, with a view to ensuring that the United Nations system continues to improve the quality of its work at all levels, including in support of objectives and priorities at the national level;

Encourages the relevant mechanisms of the Human Rights Council to continue to consider, within their respective mandates, the issue of the role of good governance in the promotion and protection of human rights;

Encourages States to consider developing and implementing appropriate tools or mechanisms to review, measure and assess progress in good governance, including but not limited to the Sustainable Development Goals;

Requests the High Commissioner:

To organize, before the fifty-fourth session of the Human Rights Council, a full-day panel discussion in a hybrid format and fully accessible to persons with disabilities, including with sign language interpretation and a webcast open to the participants of States, relevant treaty bodies and mandate holders, academia, civil society and relevant stakeholders, on good governance in the promotion and protection of human rights, with a view to discussing the most efficient ways of using good governance to address the human rights impact of the various digital divides;

To liaise with States, relevant United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, the treaty bodies, the special procedures of the Human Rights Council and regional human rights mechanisms, as well as with representatives of civil society, including non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions, with a view to ensuring their contribution to the above-mentioned panel discussion;

To prepare a report on the panel discussion, to make it available in an accessible format, including an easy-to read version, and to present it to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-fifth session;

Requests the Secretary-General to provide the above-mentioned panel discussion with all the resources necessary for services and facilities;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

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