[0:00]The 2030 Agenda. Our recognition that our future is in peril, unless we reverse the persisting levels of poverty and hunger; the growing inequalities within and among countries; the millions affected by conflict, injustice and exclusion; the deterioration of our planet in dire need of healing and protection. Our recognition that progress has to be for all people in a way that is inclusive and just, and that can be sustained over time and across generations. Our quest to find new pathways for sustainable and inclusive progress. At its core, the 2030 Agenda is a global promise to create an inclusive, secure, resilient, and sustainable future for everyone, everywhere. Reflected in 17 Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs, with 169 targets to be reached by 2030. There are six principles underlining all these goals and targets: a human rights-based approach to development, leave no one behind, gender equality and women's empowerment, resilience, sustainability, and accountability. Like the SDGs, these principles are interrelated. For example, you cannot build a resilient society without empowering women. Aligning development plans with human rights norms and standards is key to accountability. And leaving no one behind is important to ensuring the sustainability of development results. These six principles, consequently, represent the bold transformative shift in our development approach - the 2030 Agenda - that is necessary for such a complex undertaking to succeed. In this video, we will focus on the first three of these guiding principles: the human rights-based, leave no one behind, gender equality and women's empowerment. There is an accompanying video covering the next three. But let's ask ourselves, what do these principles mean? How relevant are they for the 2030 Agenda? And how do we integrate them in programming at the country level? Let's start with 'human rights-based approach' or HRBA, which is now well-recognized as an effective and essential way of putting people at the center of development. Starting from their rights as human beings. Making sure that these rights are a core part of how we work to assist them. And that we measure our success by how well they are enjoying these rights. We were all born with rights. If so, development should make these rights a reality for all. All work to support sustainable development should therefore aim to: Enhance the capacities of Governments (who are the 'duty-bearers') in terms of meeting human rights obligations, And enhance the capacities of all people (who are the 'rights-holders') to claim their rights. Our aim should be to support countries in developing both capacities. Why is this important to the 2030 Agenda? Because the human rights-based approach ensures that development is not seen as charity or an option but rather as a concrete obligation. People are not seen just as beneficiaries but more centrally as agents of change and as architects of their own futures. Success is not measured by some abstract economic indicator, but by the people's experience of how their lives have improved, not only for some, but for all.
[3:54]Let's move now to the second principle, 'leave no one behind'. At its core, it means ceasing to be blind to the situation of the poorest and most excluded, recognizing that people and communities are often economically, socially, geographically, and/or politically excluded for example, due to gender, ethnicity, race, age, disability,
[4:24]or a combination of these, leading to multiple, often-compounding discriminations. These groups thus experience additional obstacles and vulnerabilities in their ability to enjoy the benefits of development, which need to be understood and addressed. Their situation is not happenstance. It's the result of policies and practices, in some cases, even laws that produce and reproduce these inequalities over generations. For many, their situation is not even acknowledged, let alone measured and addressed! If we don't reach out to them first, listen to them to understand the - often compounding challenges they face, and work with them to overcome these, we will not advance on any goal.
[5:06]Why is Leave No One Behind important to the 2030 Agenda? Well, because it's the central promise of the agenda! And also a recognition that all people and all communities have rights, regardless of who they are or where they were born. But also, because people and communities being left behind are an integral part of the solution to the sustainable development we want to achieve. Instead of generating just, prosperous and peaceful societies, inequality breeds social tensions, political discontent and instability. Finally, what about gender equality and the empowerment of women? Isn't this part of the commitment to human rights and to leaving no one behind? Yes, of course it is! At the same point, it is important to explicitly acknowledge the fact that gender-based discrimination is one of the most prevalent forms of discrimination; create barriers to the development of the full potential of half of the world's population. Discriminatory norms and harmful gender stereotypes, prejudices and practices continue to prevent the full realization of women's human rights everywhere. And it is clear that gender inequalities often intersect with ethnicity, race, age, disability and other factors mentioned earlier to disproportionately affect women and girls. Needless to say, gender equality is a sine-qua-non for sustainable development. This means that faster progress across all SDGs requires that policies integrate a gender dimension throughout. Gender stereotypes, prejudices and practices need to be eradicated if we want to achieve any progress of any form at all. So, how do we integrate these three inter-related principles into our Cooperation Frameworks? We propose four ways: One, by aligning our plans and programs with international norms and standards. Two, by addressing inequality and discrimination from the start. Three, by ensuring the active and meaningful participation of all. And four, by integrating robust accountability mechanisms throughout. Step 1: Don't start from scratch. Take advantage of the human rights commitments the country has already made in reviews by the Universal Periodic Review or UPR, for example. Treaty bodies like the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women or CEDAW. Special procedures of the Human Rights Council, like the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
[7:53]Each of these mechanisms has issued targeted recommendations to the country, which can guide our Cooperation Framework planning and programming. And they are all catalogued by country, by affected group and by SDG target in the link we will provide you at the end of this video. These are authoritative, credible, validated data on national priorities and countries' commitments to which we should align our programming. Step 2. STEP 2: We start designing the Cooperation Framework by identifying the patterns of discrimination in the country's laws, policies and practices. We need to find the inequalities hiding behind the averages in data and statistics, to ensure progress for all population groups at a disaggregated level. Let's design programming to support the legal, policy, institutional and other measures that are necessary to reverse the prevalent inequalities. Let's ask ourselves: Which groups are being left behind? Why are they being left behind? Who is furthest behind within them, either from gender-based discrimination or other intersectional aspects? What is preventing these 'rights-holders' from changing their situation? What is preventing 'duty-bearers' from meeting their obligations? And finally, what can we do to support both these 'rights-holders' and 'duty-bearers'? Step 3: Going beyond the WHAT and the WHO, the next step is to pay attention to HOW to benefit from everyone's contribution in shaping your programming priorities and implementation. This not just about informing people or including them as recipients of support. It's about recognizing them as the agents of change they are; as part and parcel of efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda. It means using our convening power to create space for free, informed and meaningful participation without fear of reprisal. It means going beyond the stakeholders we are familiar with, engaging with marginalized groups, going to rural areas, facilitating participation by those with disabilities. Step 4. Linked to the first HOW is a second HOW. How do we ensure that people can track what we are doing and verify that we are sticking to the priorities we have stated? To do so, we need to rely on disaggregated data to show how the needle is moving for those that were being left behind. We need to measure our performance against how we contribute to this. We need to make this information accessible to everyone, considering issues like disability, language and literacy levels, for example. And we need to build in mechanisms for feedback and dialogue with those that we are seeking to support, listening to them when reviewing our work. So, there you have it: The human rights-based approach to development, leave no one behind, gender equality and women's empowerment, And the four key elements to apply them in your Cooperation Framework: 1) Aligning plans and programs with international norms and standards. 2) Addressing inequality and discrimination from the start. 3) Ensuring the active and meaningful participation of all. 4) Integrating robust accountability mechanisms throughout. We will give you the links to the recommendations by human rights mechanisms, and a matrix detailing how you can integrate all these elements in each step of your Cooperation Framework design and implementation. HTTPS://UHRI.OHCHR.ORG/EN, HTTPS://WWW.ILO.ORG/DYN/NORMLEX/EN, HTTPS://UNSDG.UN.ORG/RESOURCES/POLICY-OPERATIONAL-SUPPORT YOU CAN ALSO FIND MORE INFORMATION AT OUR WEBPAGE: HTTPS://UNSDG.UN.ORG Q1: WHICH OF THE PERSONS LISTED BELOW DO NOT HAVE ANY RIGHTS IN THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS? 1. UNDOCUMENTED MIGRANTS 2. GIRLS BELOW THE AGE OF 18 3. PERSONS WITH MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS 4. PERSONS DEPRIVED OF THEIR LIBERTY 5. ALL OF THE ABOVE HAVE RIGHTS Q2: WHICH OF THE FACTORS LISTED BELOW COULD BE THE SOURCE FOR PEOPLE TO BE LEFT BEHIND? 1. DISCRIMINATORY LAWS AND POLICIES 2. LACK OF INFORMATION OR ACCESS TO INSTITUTIONS AND SERVICES 3. EXCLUSION FROM PARTICIPATING IN DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES 4. HARMFUL PRACTICES, STEREOTYPES, STIGMA 5. ALL OF THE ABOVE CAN LEAVE PEOPLE BEHIND Q3: WHICH OF THE REASONS LISTED BELOW JUSTIFY THE UN'S COMMITMENT TO GENDER EQUALITY AND WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT? 1. WOMEN AND GIRLS HAVE RIGHTS GUARANTEED BY INTERNATIONAL NORMS AND STANDARDS 2. GENDER-BASED DISCRIMINATION IS STILL PREVALENT TODAY 3. EMPOWERING WOMEN HELPS BRING LONG-LASTING PEACE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 4. WE ARE ACCOUNTABLE INDIVIDUALLY AND AS AN ORGANIZATION FOR GENDER EQUALITY 5. ALL OF THE ABOVE ARE REASONS WHY WE COMMIT TO GENDER EQUALITY AND WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT
