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particular developing countries (resolution 70/1, para. 44). That obligation must
apply to the international system as a whole. No structures or relationships at the
international or bilateral level should operate to restrict the capability of States to
act for the realization of human rights.
64. As noted above, true sustainable development cannot be a purely State-based
or State-driven process. On the contrary, it must be person-centred and involve the
participation and efforts of a vast range of stakeholders. Private actors have
enormous impacts on human rights and sustainable development and therefore bear
a responsibility to respect human rights.
65. A human rights-based approach to data, monitoring and accountability respects
the principles of participation, data disaggregation, self-identification, transparency,
privacy and accountability. 9 It also entails measuring development in a manner that
is broader and more people-centred than gross domestic product, seeking to capture
whether economic growth is truly meeting the needs and rights of the people in a
manner that is equitable and sustainable.
66. In grounding all international action in human rights, the draft declaration
generates policy coherence. In emphasizing the mutual necessity of solidarity and
sovereignty, it preserves policy space. In recognizing that duty bearers include s ome
non-State actors, it provides a framework for effective and accountable multi stakeholder partnerships. By setting out a vision of a human rights -based approach
to international cooperation, it enables the creation of an international system that
addresses those systemic issues in their entirety.
IV. Conclusion and recommendations
67. The Independent Expert recalls coming away from the five regional
consultations with an even firmer conviction regarding the feasibility and
enforceability of the right to international solidarity as outlined in the current
draft declaration on the right to international solidarity (A/HRC/35/35, annex).
The regional consultations confirmed that many States already had t he
functioning institutions and agencies necessary to implement the right to
international solidarity. The Independent Expert notes with interest that the
output of the regional consultations echoed the text of Human Rights Council
resolution 35/3, adopted on 22 June 2017, in which it was recognized that
“there is an overwhelming manifestation of solidarity by States, individually
and collectively, by civil society, by global social movements and by countless
people of good will reaching out to others, and that this solidarity is commonly
practised at the national, regional and international levels.
68. It thus appears, by all indications from the five regional consultations and
the country visits of the Independent Expert, that those working on the ground
do possess the knowledge and experience to make the right to international
solidarity work in practice. It is also evident from the experiences narrated by
national and regional actors that, although it may take a while to surmount
some obstacles, the right can be effectively implemented in culturally diverse
ways that do not in any way diminish the standards outlined in the draft
declaration.
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Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “A human rights -based
approach to data: leaving no one behind in the 2030 development agenda — guidance note to
data collection and disaggregation”, available from www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/
HRIndicators/GuidanceNoteonApproachtoData.pdf.
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