MAINSTREAMING OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN WORK OF UN SYSTEM, RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT AMONG ISSUES RAISED AT ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL

Press Release
ECOSOC/5787

MAINSTREAMING OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN WORK OF UN SYSTEM, RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT AMONG ISSUES RAISED AT ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL

The mainstreaming of human rights in the work of the United Nations system could result in the overlapping of mandates, the representative of Malaysia told the Economic and Social Council this morning, as it concluded consideration of follow-up to the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights.

The confusion that mainstreaming could potentially generate would seriously hamper the Organization's efforts to promote and protect human rights, he continued. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had the necessary competence to coordinate all United Nations activities in that field. In addition, Malaysia was not yet convinced by merit of a rights- based approach, which purported that the enjoyment of civil and political rights would automatically bring about the full enjoyment by all individuals of economic, social and cultural rights, as well as the right to development.

The representative of India said that at times it appeared that the international community was trying to mainstream or integrate a partial concept of human rights that was modelled on civil and political rights and divorced from democracy and development. That led to a dichotomy between human rights and development. Increased coordination on human rights within the United Nations system required a deep understanding of how particularly the economic and social spheres contributed to the promotion and protection of human rights.

The strengthening of the United Nations human rights component should not impair other aspects of the Organization's work, warned the representative of Belarus. Ensuring the appropriate implementation of all human rights was only possible if the international community did not limit itself to giving humanitarian and expert assistance. It also should contribute to ensuring that the enjoyment of all rights was possible in individual countries.

The representative of Croatia said the promotion and protection of human rights remained one of the leading goals of his Government. The universality, indivisibility and interdependence of all human rights and fundamental freedoms was strongly affirmed by both the Constitution and national legislation. Moreover, a number of economic, social and cultural rights were applied in practice by the courts and administrative bodies.

The Council will meet again at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 23 July, to take up issues relating to decolonization and the occupied Palestinian territory.

Council Work Programme

The Economic and Social Council met this morning to continue the general debate of its coordination segment focusing on "coordinated follow-up to and implementation of the 1993 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action" on human rights. (For background information, see Press Release ECOSOC/5781 of 17 July.)

Statements

HASMY AGAM (Malaysia) said his Government believed strongly in the need for more effective coordination on human rights within the United Nations system. Yet, mainstreaming human rights system-wide could result in unnecessary overlapping of mandates among the various components of the Organization. The confusion that it could potentially generate could seriously hamper the efforts of the United Nations in the promotion and protection of human rights. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had the necessary competence to coordinate all United Nations activities in that field and to provide technical assistance to those that request it. In addition, Malaysia was not yet convinced by the rationale and merit of a rights-based approach which purported that the enjoyment of civil and political rights would automatically bring about the full enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, as well as the right to development by all individuals.

The Council should make a clear pronouncement that the right to development should be at the forefront of the human rights agenda, he said. That should be accompanied by a well-coordinated approach by all relevant United Nations entities to ensure the full realization of that right. International cooperation also was essential to overcome the many obstacles to development. The full and effective participation of each member of society into the mainstream was essential. Democracy could not survive, let alone flourish, in a world where many low-income countries were not fully integrated into the international economic and financial systems.

LJUBINKO MATESIC (Croatia) said the promotion and protection of human rights remained one of the leading goals of his Government. That was demonstrated by the continuous process of harmonization of national legislation with internationally recognized human rights standards. His country's Constitution encompassed a wide set of human rights guarantees, while the Constitutional Law on Human Rights and the Rights of National and Ethnic Communities or Minorities was aimed specifically at enhancing the protection of minority rights in Croatia. The universality, indivisibility and interdependence of all human rights and fundamental freedoms was strongly affirmed by both the Constitution and national legislation. Moreover, a number of economic, social and cultural rights were applied in practice by the courts and administrative bodies.

Economic and Social Council - 3 - Press Release ECOSOC/5787 38th Meeting (AM) 22 July 1998

He said Croatia had become a party to the major international human rights instruments. The significance of those instruments was further stressed by virtue of their supra-statutory status in national legislation and in their direct applicability in the courts of law. The implementation of the Declaration on the Right to Development remained one of the goals of the Croatian Government. In that regard, the sustainable development programme had been passed. As a country with a population comprised of 15 different ethnic groups, Croatia paid special attention to the protection of minority rights, namely, the right to use the minority language and scripts, and the right to identity and cultural autonomy. Additionally, the Constitutional Law on Human Rights and the Rights of National and Ethnic Communities or Minorities, widened the list of those rights by providing for an extensive set of linguistic and educational rights of minorities, including the right to form minority associations, access the media, adequate representation in political and other bodies, transfrontier contacts and cooperation.

IGAR GUBAREVICH (Belarus) said the vital interdependence between democracy, development and human rights required a comprehensive approach. Cooperation between United Nations agencies and the coordination of their activities were necessary for ensuring the success of such an approach within the United Nations system. The Council should play a key role in the coordination for the follow-up and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. It should approve efforts made by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to promote the integration of human rights as a main activity and to promote cooperation and coordination to that end.

Belarus welcomed the efforts by United Nations bodies to promote and strengthen democracy and national mechanisms to protect human rights, he said. It also supported the Secretary-General's proposal to appoint human rights focal points within the funds and programmes. Such coordination measures were also needed in other areas of the Organization. In addition, it was vital to consider human rights aspects in the coordination of United Nations country programmes.

The strengthening of the United Nations human rights component should not be achieved to the detriment of other aspects of the Organization's work, he said. Technical assistance in human rights was important in the process of promoting democracy in the countries with economies in transition. The United Nations should continue to support, and adhere to, a complex and coordinated approach in which civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, as well as the right to development, were equal in status and complementary. Ensuring the appropriate implementation of all human rights was only possible if the international community did not limit itself to giving humanitarian and expert assistance. It also should contribute to ensuring that the enjoyment of all rights was possible in individual countries.

Economic and Social Council - 4 - Press Release ECOSOC/5787 38th Meeting (AM) 22 July 1998

GAUTAM MUKHOPADHAYA (India) said that in a lot of language currently under negotiation, there was a sense that far from viewing all human rights as universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, the international community was wittingly or unwittingly trying to mainstream or integrate a partial concept of human rights that was modelled on civil and political rights and divorced from democracy and development. That led to a dichotomy between human rights and development. Increased coordination on human rights within the United Nations system should be understood as a two-way relationship between the Organization's development and human rights arms. It required a deep understanding of how different components of the United Nations system, particularly those dealing with the economic and social spheres, contributed to the promotion and protection of human rights.

He said there was now greater realization of the importance of the right to development, and mechanisms were now in place to pursue the right to development at the country level through the Organization's country cooperation and development assistance frameworks. However, greater efforts needed to be exerted to translate the idea at the international level. It was important to address the imbalances and distortions at international level that affected the right to development at both individual and collective levels. The issue of resources for human rights programmes was critical. Faced with the current gap in the United Nations budget, developing countries would be put in an awkward position if they had to redirect resources from development programmes that contributed to the promotion of economic or social rights, to human rights programmes conceived to basically strengthen civil and political rights. Developing countries would not like to choose between one or the other; they would like to do both.

* *** *