Promoting and Protecting Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Within the Context of Addressing Inequalities

Encourages States that have not yet signed, ratified or acceded to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to consider doing so, and encourages all States to implement relevant Human Rights Council resolutions on economic, social and cultural rights;

Encourages the identification of the root causes of discrimination, in particular in the context of multiple and aggravated forms of discrimination, and the adoption of measures necessary to combat discrimination and inequalities, inter alia, poverty alleviation, homelessness elimination, human rights education and social protection;

Encourages international financial institutions to continue to support States, in particular developing countries, and, when doing so, to take into consideration the prioritization of social spending and the enhancement of States’ fiscal space, while engaging collaboratively in terms of international assistance and cooperation, all of which contribute to the realization of economic, social and cultural rights;

Encourages the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Human Rights Council, the United Nations development system, international financial institutions, regional organizations and other stakeholders, as appropriate and within their respective mandates, to take into consideration the needs of States, especially in developing and least developed countries, to fulfil their responsibilities to better promote and protect economic, social and cultural rights, address inequalities and implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

Calls upon the Office of the High Commissioner, in accordance with its mandate, to continue to guide its work and set its priorities on economic, social and cultural rights, taking into consideration relevant resolutions and decisions of the Human Rights Council, with due regard to achieving international cooperation in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights;

Requests the Office of the High Commissioner to enhance its work, within its mandate, in the field of economic, social and cultural rights, in order to effectively assist all countries in promoting and protecting economic, social and cultural rights and addressing inequalities;

Requests the Secretary-General to scale up the capacity of the Office of the High Commissioner through additional regular budget-funded posts to enhance the work of the Office at headquarters, with due regard to gender balance and equitable geographical representation, in accordance with its mandate in the field of the economic, social and cultural rights enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;

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

Requests the High Commissioner to prepare a summary report on the panel discussion and to present the report to the Human Rights Council at its sixtieth session, followed by an interactive dialogue;

Also requests the High Commissioner to establish a knowledge hub at headquarters, to be dedicated to technical assistance and capacity-building, to consolidate best practices and know-how in promoting and protecting economic, social and cultural rights within the context of addressing inequalities, with the support of the Office of High Commissioner in the process of enhancing its capacity in the field of economic, social and cultural rights, and make the knowledge hub available to Member States and relevant stakeholders in a user-friendly manner;