SC Virtual Meeting, 4 June 2021
Virtual Meeting on the implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Peasants and other people living in rural areas: what is next?
4th of June 2021, 13h00 – 15h00 CEST
Human Rights
SouthViews No. 217, 14 May 2021
Financing for development from the perspective of the right to development
Summaries of two reports by Saad Alfarargi, Special Rapporteur on the right to development
In 2020, the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the right to development, Saad Alfarargi, submitted two reports, one to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) and the other to the UN General Assembly, on the issue of financing for development (FFD) from the perspective of the right to development (RTD). The first report (A/HRC/45/15) analyzed national-level FFD, while the second report (A/75/167) focused on the international dimension of FFD. In both reports the Special Rapporteur highlighted relevant challenges, with a particular focus on how to ensure the meaningful participation of rights-holders.
Foro Internacional: Consideraciones de Propiedad Intelectual en el Contexto de COVID-19
Este espacio es organizado por el Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Bolivia, en coordinación con el South Centre y el PNUD Bolivia. El Foro es un espacio de intercambio de información técnica y debate de opciones de política pública al alcance de los países en desarrollo. Incluirá la participación de panelistas internacionales, tanto de organismos internacionales, sociedad civil y representantes de países.
Jueves, 13 de mayo de 2021, 09:00-10:45 (Bolivia) / 15:00-16:45 (Geneva)
SC, WGBizHRs, HRW Session, 17 March 2021
Not Charity, But Rights: Universal and Equitable Access to Covid-19 Vaccines
Session at the Second United Nations South Asia Forum on Business and Human Rights organized by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, South Centre, and Human Rights Watch
March 17 12–1:30pm CET/4:30–6pm IST
Submission on Strengthening United Nations Action in the Field of Human Rights, March 2021
Strengthening United Nations Action in the Field of Human Rights through the Promotion of International Cooperation
COVID-19 could be an opportunity for effective international cooperation for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, taking Human Rights as its fundamental pillar, the South Centre notes in its submission for the United Nations Secretary-General’s report.
This contribution was sent to the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) responding to its invitation, with the objective of providing inputs to the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General’s report on strengthening of UN action in the field of human rights through the promotion of international cooperation based on the principles of non-selectivity, impartiality and objectivity, to be presented to the General Assembly at its seventy-sixth session.
SouthViews No. 212, 28 January 2021
The Right to Development and its Role in International Economic Law
By Olasupo Owoeye
This paper provides a brief discussion on the right to development and examines some of the criticisms often raised against its significance as a cognizable human right. The paper argues that the principles encapsulated in the right to development represent the foundational principles of the international legal order. The right to development is therefore both a human right and an economic right. Thus, the principles it embodies are not only incorporated into the International Bill of Human Rights, they are also well reflected in World Trade Organization agreements and the field of international economic law. The paper argues that the right to development can play an important role in the interpretation and enforcement of rights under international economic law.
Submission on 3rd Intersessional Meeting for Dialogue and Cooperation on Human Rights & 2030 Agenda for SDGs,, January 2021
South Centre’s Submission to the 3rd Intersessional Meeting for Dialogue and Cooperation on Human Rights and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
Strengthening human rights for fighting inequalities and building back better
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a global crisis without precedent in modern history. Its effects have not been felt equally among all countries as it has exacerbated the profound economic and social inequalities affecting the most vulnerable. In light of the lessons, we have learned – and are still learning – from the fight against COVID-19 pandemic, the 3rd Intersessional Meeting for Dialogue and Cooperation on Human Rights and the 2030 Agenda serves as a vital opportunity to understand the needs and realities of those who are still ‘left behind’.
Research Paper 123, November 2020
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas: One Step Forward in the Promotion of Human Rights for the Most Vulnerable
By Maria Natalia Pacheco Rodriguez and Luis Fernando Rosales Lozada
Peasants and other people living rural areas are among the most vulnerable in the world. In 2015, an estimated of 736 million people in the world lived in extreme poverty, of which 589 million – 80 per cent – live in rural areas. Despite increasing urbanization in the last decades, almost 45 per cent of the global population still lives in areas defined as rural, and most of them are among the poorest of the world. The situation is most likely worsening because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2018, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas by the supporting vote of a vast majority of countries. There are many reasons to consider the Declaration as one of the most relevant actions in the realm of human rights law taken by the United Nations in recent years. Some of them are the recognition of peasants as specific subjects of rights; the reaffirmation of existing standards tailored for the reality of people living in rural areas; and the development of international law to address existing gaps in the protection of their rights in complex subject matters such as the right to land, the right to seeds, and the right to means of production. In underscoring the importance of the Declaration for the world, this research paper narrates the process of construction of the Declaration, its contributions to international human rights law and stresses on its potential for poverty reduction and food security, in line with the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the strategies of the UN Decade on Family Farming.
Statements, November 2020
South Centre Statement to the 2nd Session of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes the commitment of the international community to make the right to development (RtD) a reality for everyone, leaving no one behind, and building peaceful and inclusive societies on the basis of the respect of human rights.
The right to development becomes prominent during and in the aftermath of facing the COVID-19 pandemic. The creation of favorable conditions for international, economic, scientific and technological cooperation, including technology transfer and know-how, is part and parcel of the right to development through the promotion of the well-being of all peoples, the improvement of the economic conditions of the developing countries and bridging of the economic gap.
SouthViews No. 207, 28 September 2020
Is the right to exclusivity a Hamlet question?
By Justice Prabha Sridevan
Today the judicial authority may be faced with balancing patent rights and patients’ rights or right to life. It shall use all the tools at its command and innovate if necessary, but shall rule in favour of life.
SC Webinar Series on Development and COVID-19
Responsible Investment for Development and Human Rights: Assessing Different Mechanisms to face Possible Investor-State Disputes from COVID-19 Related Measures
Developing and least developed countries (LDCs), particularly in Africa, are especially vulnerable to the unfolding effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to UNCTAD, foreign direct investment flows will drop drastically up to 40% during 2020-2021. A number of developed and developing countries, including LDCs, have introduced a number of measures aimed at limiting the effects of the pandemic, protecting domestic industries for strategic sectors (e.g. health industry, energy sector, telecommunication, food production, etc.), and safeguarding the real economy, particularly by offering bonds or bailouts for companies and the public in general.
Law firms and risk managers are already advising foreign investors about the possibility of initiating investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) claims against host States on the grounds of the alleged breach of their investors’ rights, based on provisions such as : (i) full protection and security; (ii) fair and equitable treatment; (iii) national treatment and most-favoured nation treatment; and (iv) unlawful expropriation.
Publication on Designing an International Legally Binding Instrument on Business and Human Rights, July 2020
Designing an International Legally Binding Instrument on Business and Human Rights
By Daniel Uribe and Danish
The present document is substantially based on the background materials prepared by the South Centre (authored by Kinda Mohamadieh, Daniel Uribe, and Danish) for various sessions of the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights (OEIGWG), established by Resolution 26/9 of the Human Rights Council, held since 2015.
The objective of this document is to provide support material for State delegations and other stakeholders for the negotiation of a binding international instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises. The document considers a number of issues and technical details that have been addressed during the different sessions of the OEIGWG.