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

A/HRC/RES/57/5View 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 2024.

What other versions does this mandate have?

8 versions · 2008–2024

2024A/HRC/RES/57/5The role of good governance in the promotion and protection of human rightsLatestCompare with previous version
2022A/HRC/RES/51/5The role of good governance in the promotion and protection of human rightsCompare with previous version
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).

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Extracted automatically from each entity’s budget submission.

What subjects does this mandate have?

6 topics

Artificial Intelligence Digital Divide Governance Human Rights Information Technology Public Administration

What does this mandate say?

23 operative paragraphs

Welcomes the convening, on 4 September 2023, of a panel discussion on the most efficient ways of upholding good governance to address the human rights impacts of the various digital divides;

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 recognizes the need to close them;

Encourages States to foster collaboration between the public and private sectors and with civil society in addressing digital divides, within and among States, and to engage with the private sector, the technical community, academia and regulators to promote respect for human rights related to digital technology, with a focus on accessible and affordable technology solutions;

Also encourages States to take a comprehensive approach to bridging digital divides, focusing not only on the availability or access to digital technologies and infrastructure but also on facilitating the meaningful engagement of individuals with them, including by taking measures to improve digital, media and information literacy and data literacy;

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 targets of the Sustainable Development Goals;

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 the information and 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;

Urges States, civil society, the private sector, international organizations, the media and other stakeholders to recognize the compounding risks that disinformation could introduce to electoral and other democratic processes, and to work in a cross-sectoral manner to develop practical strategies, including through media and information literacy, to mitigate risks while promoting the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms;

Encourages States and, where applicable, other stakeholders to promote, following a risk-based approach, the safe, secure and trustworthy design, development, deployment and decommissioning of artificial intelligence systems in an inclusive and equitable manner, and for the benefit of all, and foster an enabling environment for such systems to protect the exercise of and mitigate the potential adverse impacts on the full and effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms;

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 among 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 Human Rights Council Advisory Committee to prepare a study on the impact of artificial intelligence systems on good governance, indicating in particular the areas in which artificial intelligence systems can contribute to promoting and protecting human rights through good governance and those in which such systems pose a challenge to good governance and human rights, highlighting good practices around the globe on the ways to develop, deploy, use and govern artificial intelligence systems, following a risk-based approach, to promote and protect human rights through good governance and identifying necessary safeguards, and to present the study to the Human Rights Council at its sixty-second session;

Also requests the Advisory Committee to seek the views of and inputs from and to take into account relevant work already done by stakeholders, including States, United Nations agencies, entities, funds and programmes within their respective mandates, international and regional organizations, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the special procedures of the Human Rights Council, relevant treaty bodies, national human rights institutions, civil society, the private sector, academic institutions, multi-stakeholder initiatives and other relevant stakeholders, where applicable, when preparing the above-mentioned study;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

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