A/HRC/RES/12/23
page 2
Taking note of the efforts under way in the framework of the Working Group on the Right
to Development, with the support of the high-level task force on the implementation of the right
to development, to develop a set of right to development criteria and corresponding operational
subcriteria,
1.
Welcomes the report of the Working Group on the Right to Development
(A/HRC/12/28);
2.
Decides:
(a) To continue to act to ensure that its agenda promotes and advances sustainable
development and the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals and, in this regard, to
lead to raising the right to development, as set out in paragraphs 5 and 10 of the Vienna
Declaration and Programme of Action, to the same level and on a par with all other human rights
and fundamental freedoms;
(b) To endorse the recommendations of the Working Group, as outlined in paragraphs 44
to 46 of its report, which would ensure that the right to development criteria and corresponding
operational subcriteria, to be submitted by the task force to the Working Group at its eleventh
session in 2010, together with suggestions for further work, address, in a comprehensive and
coherent manner, the essential features of the right to development, as defined in the Declaration
on the Right to Development, and including the priority concerns of the international community
beyond those enumerated in Millennium Development Goal 8;
(c) That, once considered, revised and endorsed by the Working Group, the
above-mentioned criteria and corresponding operational subcriteria should be used, as
appropriate, in the elaboration of a comprehensive and coherent set of standards for the
implementation of the right to development;
(d) That, upon completion of the three phases of the 2008-2010 workplan of the
high-level task force on the implementation of the right to development, endorsed by the Council
in its resolution 9/3, the Working Group will take appropriate steps to ensure respect for and
practical application of the above-mentioned standards, which could take various forms,
including guidelines on the implementation of the right to development, and evolve into a basis
for consideration of an international legal standard of a binding nature, through a collaborative
process of engagement;
(e) To request the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to
continue to take all necessary measures and to allocate adequate resources for the effective
implementation of the present resolution, taking into account the needs for the effective
implementation of the recommendations of the Working Group referred to in paragraph 2 (b)
above;
3.
Also decides to review the progress of the implementation of the present resolution as
a matter of priority at its future sessions.
32nd meeting
2 October 2009