A/HRC/RES/57/19
Expressing concern about the increasing number of cases of human rights violations
and abuses by transnational corporations and other business enterprises, underlining the need
to ensure that appropriate protection, justice and remedies are provided to victims of human
rights violations and abuses resulting from the activities of those entities, and underscoring
the fact that they must contribute to the means of implementation for the realization of the
right to development,
Noting the ongoing negotiation process on the draft legally binding instrument to
regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and
other business enterprises,
Underlining that the successful implementation of the Sustainable Development
Goals will require the strengthening of a new, more equitable social and international order
in which the rights and freedoms set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights can
be fully realized, as envisioned in article 28 thereof,
Stressing the primary responsibility of States for the creation of national and
international conditions favourable to the realization of the right to development,
Recognizing that States should cooperate with each other in ensuring development
and eliminating lasting obstacles to development, that the international community should
promote effective international cooperation, in particular global partnerships for
development, for the realization of the right to development, and that lasting progress towards
the implementation of the right to development requires, inter alia, effective development
policies at the national level, equitable economic relations and a favourable economic
environment at the international level,
Urging all States to engage constructively in discussions for the full implementation
of the Declaration on the Right to Development within the Working Group on the Right to
Development in order that it may fulfil, in a timely manner, its mandate as established by the
Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 1998/72 and the Human Rights Council in its
resolution 4/4,
Stressing that, in its resolution 48/141 of 20 December 1993, the General Assembly
decided that the responsibility of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
shall be, among others, to promote and protect the realization of the right to development,
and to enhance support from relevant bodies of the United Nations system for that purpose,
and in its annual resolution on the right to development, the Assembly reaffirms its request
to the High Commissioner, in mainstreaming the right to development, to effectively
undertake activities aimed at strengthening the global partnership for development among
Member States, development agencies and international development, financial and trade
institutions,
Recognizing the need for independent perspectives and expert advice to strengthen the
work of the Working Group and to support the efforts of Member States to realize fully the
right to development, including in the context of the implementation of the Sustainable
Development Goals,
Recalling the report of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee on the
importance of a legally binding instrument on the right to development, 2 submitted to the
Human Rights Council at its forty-fifth session pursuant to Council resolution 39/9 of 27
September 2018,
Welcoming the discussions held by the Working Group at its previous sessions on how
a legally binding instrument would contribute to making the right to development a reality
for all by creating conducive national and international conditions for its realization and by
halting all measures that might have a negative impact on the right to development, in
accordance with the Charter, the Declaration on the Right to Development and other relevant
international instruments and documents,
2
A/HRC/45/40.
3