HRC51 - NB8 statement - SR on the right to development

Human Rights Council – 51st session

Item 3 - Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the right to development

Nordic – Baltic Statement, delivered by Lithuania

15 September 2022

Mr President,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Nordic-Baltic countries – Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Norway, Sweden, and my own country Lithuania.

The right to development is rooted in the universality, indivisibility, interrelation, and interdependence of all human rights.

The Nordic-Baltic countries are convinced that human rights and good governance are key to the achievement of inclusive and sustainable development.

The COVID-19 pandemic marked a major setback in implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

The impacts of the pandemic are further exacerbated by the current food and energy crises, as well as by climate change. And of course, nothing violates the right to development so directly and devastatingly as an outright military aggression. These crises are likely to further increase poverty, and inequalities, which hit people and countries in vulnerable situations the hardest.

It is critical that recovery plans and policies put emphasis on individuals as central actors, drivers, and beneficiaries of development processes and include the most vulnerable.

As States bear the primary responsibility for the full realisation of human rights, we call on all governments to ensure participatory approaches that leave no one behind and to refrain from actions that put human rights, at risk.

Mr Special Rapporteur, could you please share your views on how to best mitigate the negative impact of the current crises on human rights?