Expert Mechanism on the Right to the Development Closes its Twelfth Session
The Expert Mechanism on the Right to the Development today closed its twelfth session in Geneva, which addressed current challenges in realising the right to development.
On the final day of the session, the Mechanism held its fifth thematic discussion on the role of civil society organizations in realising the right to development at the grassroots level.
The topics addressed in the discussion included civil society’s potential to combat modern challenges and contribute to public policies promoting the right to development and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals; the negative impact of restrictions on the activities of civil society by States and private entities; and measures to strengthen the public participation of civil society.
Speaking in the discussion were Venezuela, Cuba, and Eritrea, as well as the International Social Work Federation, Geneva for Human Rights, Indian Council of South America, Rencontre Africaine pour la defense des droits de l'homme, Humanity First, Associazione Comunità Papa Giovanni XXIII, Democratic Society, Organization for Defending Victims of Violence, Shaanxi Patriotic Volunteer Association, and Vision 2061.
The Expert Mechanism also held a coordination meeting with counterpart United Nations mechanisms on the right to development, hearing video addresses from the Chair-Rapporteur of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Right to Development and the Special Rapporteur on the right to development about their work, as well of the importance of the various mechanisms working in coordination on the subject of the right to development.
Bonny Ibhawoh, Chair of the Expert Mechanism, then launched five policy briefs produced by the Expert Mechanism, which he said distilled complex messages into suggestions, including policy measures for governments and advocacy points for civil society and the private sector. He urged delegates to help disseminate the policy briefs and take this important information to those who needed it most.
Mr. Ibhawoh also gave a statement to close the Mechanism’s twelfth session. He summarised the work undertaken over the past three days which included five thematic panels, including preparations for the fortieth anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development, climate finance, public participation, the impact of trade tariffs, the implications of artificial intelligence for cultural rights and creative industries, and the indispensable role of civil society in advancing this fundamental right.
Concluding, Mr. Ibhawoh urged Member States and all stakeholders to continue working collaboratively to promote and protect the right to development.
The Expert Mechanism on the Right to the Development is a subsidiary body of the Human Rights Council established in 2019 under resolution 42/23. It provides the Council with thematic expertise on the right to development in searching for, identifying, and sharing best practices with Member States and promotes the implementation of the right to development worldwide.
Summaries of the public meetings of the twelfth session of the Expert Mechanism can be found here, while webcasts of can be found here. The programme of work of the Expert Mechanism’s twelfth session and other documents related to the session can be found here.
The official dates of the thirteenth session of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to the Development will be announced on the Mechanism’s website at a later date.
Fifth Thematic Discussion: The Role of Civil Society Organizations in Realising the Right to Development at the Grassroots Level
Opening Statements
JUANA MARÍA IBAÑEZ RIVAS, Member of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development, said civil society organizations played a crucial role in promoting the right to development, given their knowledge, experience, and proximity to the right-holders of the right to development. They raised awareness about situations of vulnerability, historical and structural discrimination, as well as the violence and insecurity that hindered the realisation of the right to development of individuals and peoples. Through their activities, civil society organizations became authentic human rights defenders, complementing the work of regional and universal human rights systems.
Sustained dialogue with civil society organizations was essential to advance the promotion and operationalisation of the right to development. Since the beginning of its mandate, the Expert Mechanism had sought to promote their consistent and meaningful participation. It had encouraged them to raise awareness of and mobilise around the right to development, while also learning from their initiatives, their challenges, and the difficulties they faced - including at the grassroots level.
Ms. Ibañez Rivas said the thematic discussion aimed to identify whether there had been an evolution in the appropriation of the right to development by civil society organizations; highlight the strategies employed by civil society organizations to invoke and protect the right to development and the outcomes achieved; and identify measures and practices that could be implemented by States, in complementarity with civil society organizations, to ensure that individuals and peoples were aware of, and could effectively exercise, their right to development.
SAMUEL HOUSMAN BUGGIE SAFFA, Deputy Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said Sierra Leone valued its engagement with civil society organizations, which were indispensable partners in achieving the right to development, including ensuring that the development process was inclusive, accountable and rights based. Sierra Leone was a co-sponsor to two key Human Rights Council resolutions pertaining to civil society, which recognised that a safe and enabling environment both online and offline for civil society was essential to realising the right to development. The resolutions ordered States to safeguard civil society in policy making and decision-making processes, ensuring that civil society was crucial to realising participation. The resolutions also confirmed that maintaining civic space helped States ability to fulfil their human rights commitments. Any restrictions on civil space undermined States’ ability to realise this right.
When civic space was protected, States strengthened accountability and the rule of law, key pillars of development. Both resolutions also promoted regional and global cooperation to support civil space. Sierra Leone promoted the active participation of civil society in its national development agenda. Civil society played a central role in the design and monitoring of the State’s national development plans. Grassroots civil society organizations played an essential role in mobilising communities and ensuring no one was left behind. During the State’s Universal Periodic Review, inputs from civil society were essential to shaping Sierra Leone’s priorities and commitments.
Civil society should be viewed as partners, rather than adversaries. Realising the right to development at the grassroot level, required a people-centred, inclusive development framework. The right to development could not be realised in isolation; the global community must uphold the principles of equity, solidarity and partnership.
MARIA MERCEDES ROSSI, Associazione Comunità Papa Giovanni XXIII, said the organization supported the poorest and most marginalised people in 42 countries on five continents, and was committed to removing the causes of poverty and injustices through non-violent action. It was involved in a wide range of social activities and development initiatives at the grass-roots level in both developing and developed countries. Ms. Rossi presented various initiatives undertaken by the organization, including projects supporting orphans and vulnerable children in Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya; persons with disabilities in Italy; minority groups and indigenous peoples in Chile; Palestinians in the West Bank; communities threatened by armed groups in Colombia; and migrants, refugees, and victims of trafficking in persons in Italy, Greece and Lebanon.
Many persons and peoples at the grassroots level were not yet ready to claim their right to development. Member States and civil society needed to engage more on education and the right to development with local communities. Active and meaningful participation of people was key to successful programmes promoting the right to development.
The right to development was relevant now for both developing and developed countries. It shifted the paradigm of international cooperation and assistance from a vision of mere charity and moral obligation to an affirmation of solidarity rights and social justice. Its implementation represented an important and necessary move to meet the present and future challenges faced by humanity today, challenges which no country would be able to face alone. Ms. Rossi urged Member States to leave behind the divisive political and cultural arguments surmounting the debate on the right to development and to adopt promptly at the General Assembly the draft International Covenant on the Right to Development.
YOUSSOUF ELBAK, International Youth and Student Movement for the United Nations, said it was at the local level that the right to development took on its full meaning, where civil society organizations played the irreplaceable role of bringing the right to development to life. Civil society organizations were actors of participation and advocacy and carrying the voices of those whose voices were not heard enough, including women, young people, people with disabilities, rural populations and indigenous peoples. Civil society organizations played a mediating role between citizens and institutions, translating complex language of international standards into tools for local understanding and action, and creating spaces for accountability and dialogue between the rulers and the governed.
Despite these successes, civil society organizations faced several structural challenges, including a lack of institutional recognition; lack of technical and financial resources; and restrictions on freedom of expression and freedom of association and peaceful assembly. Indigenous peoples were among the first to be affected by inequalities in development and policies for the exploitation of their lands and resources, often without their free, prior and informed consent.
Development could only be sustainable if it was achieved with the people concerned, in the context of respect for their land rights, local knowledge and collective sovereignty. Here, civil society organizations played a key role: defending the collective rights, protecting land and resources, documenting violations, and addressing the voices of communities on the national and international stage. It was therefore vital to strengthen national legal frameworks by explicitly recognising civil society organizations as full partners; establish a permanent and inclusive dialogue between the State, civil society, the private sector, donors and youth; ensure sustainable and transparent financing of local initiatives, adapted to the real needs of the field; promote good local practices and pass them on to the international mechanisms for the right to development; promote South-South and triangular cooperation; and establish international mechanisms for monitoring with binding powers, so that States could no longer evade their obligations.
DONATELLA BENJAMIN, Soroptimist International, said that without gender equality, the right to development could not be realised. Due to persistent inequalities, patriarchal norms and structural barriers, women and girls were unable to realise their right to development. They remained disproportionately affected by poverty, conflict, and systemic exclusion. Since 1921, through its global network and dedicated 66,000 volunteers in 120 countries, Soroptimist International had brought change to the lives of all women and girls worldwide. Its projects supported all women and girls around the world in the fields of education, eliminating violence, economic empowerment, health, and the environment.
Ms. Benjamin presented two projects supporting women and girls in Kenya and Cambodia. The project in Kenya worked with three rehabilitation schools. It aimed to plant 100,000 native trees and edible plants across Kenya by 2027, support groups disproportionately affected by climate change, promote environmental sustainability and resilience to natural disasters, and create entrepreneurship pathways and green jobs supporting financial autonomy. The project in Cambodia supported women and girls in rural areas of Siem Reap through education, workshops, and training.
Both projects created lasting change by giving women and girls the tools to act - for the planet, for their families, and for their futures. They captured the true spirit of the right to development: every woman and every girl had the right to learn, to lead, and to act - for herself, her family, and her world. The right to development provided a vital framework for dismantling gender-based barriers and ensuring that development was inclusive, equitable, and grounded in human rights.
AKHILESH ANILKUMAR, Bring Back Green Foundation, said that inequalities among people were at near-peak historical highs, making it a crucial time to reflect on progress towards the right to development. Reports suggested there was enough food to feed everyone, clothes to dress the next six generations, and yet the richest one per cent emitted more than twice the emissions of the poorest 50 per cent combined.
The Bring Back Green Foundation was an entirely youth-led nonprofit organization based in India, working in the intersection of climate change, youth and women, helping to shape policies across local levels with the support of their communities and their involvement. Work was done particularly in climate action, which was necessary to advance the right to development process, and with communities on the frontlines to ensure their voices were heard. The Foundation had helped facilitate dialogue in a coastal village where a new development project had severely worsened existing climate-driven erosion and displaced hundreds of people.
Another project was the Panchayat Climate Parliament, the Foundation’s flagship model for grassroots climate governance, designed to nurture community-government partnerships and facilitate the development of bottom-up policies that reflected local needs. These projects demonstrated that the right to development was an integrated right, and advocacy was essential to the process. Mr. Anilkumar recommended the need to strengthen local governments’ capacity to promote inclusive decision-making; enable free, active and meaningful participation of youth in negotiations and decision-making for their communities’ development; and strengthen the platforms of civil society organizations for participation and engagement at grassroot levels.
MORGAN ODY, La Via Campesina, said she was a small-scale farmer, and the General Coordinator of La Via Campesina, a global peasant movement which gathered small-scale farmers’ organizations, peasants’ organizations, and agricultural workers’ organizations from over 80 countries all over the world. Ms. Ody said small-scale farmers struggled to access their rights. Public policies needed to promote access to education on rights, to empower people to monitor States’ compliance with their obligations to implement human rights.
Peasants, indigenous peoples, rural women, and agricultural workers had the rights to land and territory, a decent income and a decent livelihood. States had the obligation to implement agrarian reform and other policies to redistribute the land to the people, and ensure fair prices for farmers and fair wages for agricultural workers. Further, these groups had the rights to food sovereignty and a safe and healthy environment. The World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Agriculture and bilateral free trade agreements were attacking and undermining the right to food sovereignty. La Via Campesina was demanding a new trade framework based on food sovereignty and international cooperation. States needed to promote public policies to strengthen agroecology all over the world and prohibit dangerous pesticides that were affecting the health of people in rural areas.
The right to development was a way to ensure that vulnerable people in rural areas could be empowered to access their rights. In the current context, these rights were being undermined by global policies implemented by the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, which were preventing governments of the Global South from implementing policies promoting the right to development. The right to development was a powerful tool to combat these very dangerous policies, through which governments of the Global North tried to control trade and financial systems to the benefit of transnational corporations. The right to development was a tool for people from all over the world to promote public policies that implemented the rights of the people.
Comments from Members of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development
ISABELLE DURANT, Member of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development, said the civil society organizations that spoke today were engaged in work which carried out the right to development on the ground through their innovative projects. Ms. Durant asked all speakers to what extent would the International Covenant on the Right to Development, if adopted, provide their organizations with additional tools to do their work on the ground? Civil society should continue to question the political world. What would the right to development structurally bring to their work on the ground?
KLENTIANA MAHMUTAJ, Vice Chair of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development, said it was striking to see the diversity of the work done by civil society on the ground. A strong civil society could make States more accountable, which strengthened citizens’ trust in Governments. Civil society was clearly a powerful actor for the right to development, empowering marginalised voices, holding governments and businesses accountable, and monitoring progress. Without civil society there would be no right to development.
MIHIR KANADE, Member of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development, said many civil society organizations contributed to the right to development, without being aware of the term, or that what they were doing was contributing to this right. This was due to not understanding enough about the right to development’s true potential on the ground. Some Latin American communities were sceptical about development, believing it to be about infrastructure development, mining, or gross domestic product raising. It had to be explained that it was about enhancing the wellbeing of all peoples. Any time a civil society organization protested Government policies, they were essentially saying their development policies were not being reflected, but it was not necessarily articulated as such. There was a need for civil society organizations to mainstream the language of the right to development into their work. Mr. Kanade hoped that the word could be spread throughout civil society organizations to enable further engagement on the right to development.
BONNY IBHAWOH, Chair of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development, said it was the work of civil society and States that changed the lived experiences of people on the ground which gave notion to the right to development. Development was not just about wellbeing, but about people having a choice in what constituted wellbeing for them. It was about a fundamental freedom to determine how people wanted to live.
Discussion
In the discussion, some speakers, among other things, said the promotion of the right to development was strengthened through joint action between the State and civil society. Civil society could contribute significantly towards the design and implementation of public policies, contributing to the right to development. At the grassroots level, the right to development became tangible through the everyday work of civil society organizations that contributed positively to social wellbeing. These organizations connected communities with institutions, promoted local ownership of development processes, and strengthened accountability at local and national levels.
Civil society organizations were catalysts in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the right to development through strengthening local mechanisms, contributing to the formulation of alternative policies, and addressing the consequences of globalisation on marginalised peoples in developing countries. One speaker said Kofi Annan, the former United Nations Secretary-General, had called civil society a crucial partner for Governments and international organizations and had advocated for these groups to be key players in the global international landscape, working towards peace and security. Speakers reiterated their support for civil society organizations, emphasising that they were worthy of protection.
Some speakers said that unfortunately today, civil society was experiencing shrinking, with many States gagging their civil society by adopting laws which restricted access to financing. It was acknowledged that realising the right to development required institutional coordination. The right to development had emerged as the right to challenge colonial structural inequalities and past injustices. Today, there were new forms of colonialism, land disposition, climate injustice and digital division, which disproportionately impacted the Global South and affected the right to development. International corporations seemed to pose their own form of development through mining projects and funding conflict, which did not reflect the rights of peoples in the country, including peasants, a speaker said.
One speaker said the Declaration on the Right to Development did not mention community development, requiring interpretive work to understand the collective dimension of rights. The current development framework also largely ignored the interplay between human rights and nature and development. Another speaker asserted that certain groups fell through the cracks when it came to the Declaration on the Right to Development. The Expert Mechanism was requested to offer solutions which were inclusive enough to apply to sanction environments. A speaker asked: what could the United Nations do to ensure civil society organizations were heard and recognised by States?
Human rights institutions and follow-up mechanisms’ engagement with civil society was vital. States, governments, and national human rights institutions were urged to recognise civil society as co-architects of a just international order, as full partners in designing, implementing and monitoring public policy. In addressing the right to development, it was vital to refer to the colonial injustices of the past and provide an appropriate solution, as well as to tackle the technological and debt challenges present today.
Speakers outlined diverse national steps taken to strengthen the active participation of civil society, including by promoting community training; working with vulnerable groups; holding widespread consultations on key legislation; and convening peoples’ summits and assemblies, among others. Civil society organizations outlined some of their crucial work, including organising regional conferences; the construction of schools and institutions across Africa; developing different forms of working land, which was difficult to cultivate; taking non-violent approaches to violent groups; working in refugee camps to help women and girls; and supporting villages through local craft projects, among other measures.
Concluding Statements
SAMUEL HOUSMAN BUGGIE SAFFA, Deputy Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said both Human Rights Council resolutions 53/L.14 and 59/L.14 addressed enabling environments for civil society. States needed to respect and uphold their human rights obligations and allow civil society to deliver on its role. Both this panel and the first panel of the session had shown that the right to development could not be achieved without the full and meaningful participation of those it wished to serve.
MARIA MERCEDES ROSSI, Associazione Comunità Papa Giovanni XXIII, said she had been involved in grassroots projects in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Colombia, where she had seen people implementing the right to development without being aware of it. People were afraid to discuss development, as they were afraid of development models being imposed on them. Governments could promote participation by translating the language of the United Nations into local languages and the language of the people. Education on the right to development was crucial at the grassroots level.
YOUSSOUF ELBAK, International Youth and Student Movement for the United Nations, said civil society organizations were crucial for implementing the right to development. The right to development legitimised civil society actions, promoting accountability for States and autonomy for local populations. Mr. Elbak said that the organization sought to promote the rights of minority groups but did not wish to enter conflictual situations with States.
DONATELLA BENJAMIN, Soroptimist International, said that the right to development affirmed that all peoples were entitled to benefit from economic, social, cultural and political progress. The discussion had shown the importance of a stronger link between Governments and civil society, which would help in the realisation of the right to development for all.
AKHILESH ANILKUMAR, Bring Back Green Foundation, said grassroots communities were resilient and could fight for development when needed. The right to development was about being able to reject actions that infringed on the rights of local communities. Civil society organizations had significantly impacted the United Nations and other international fora, staying in conference rooms for 24 hours in some cases to ensure that discussions did not lead to injustices for communities. Promoting spaces for civil society and building partnerships with them was vital for translating the promise of the right to development into a lived reality.
JUANA MARÍA IBAÑEZ RIVAS, Member of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development, said the right to development was based on the active participation of civil society, and civil society had a crucial role to play in creating fair societies. Discussions had revealed the vulnerabilities of people on the ground, including tribal communities, the elderly, persons with disabilities, and people exposed to violence and climate change. Education on the right to development had been mentioned several times; people needed to take ownership of this right and claim it. This right needed to be embodied in a treaty. Discussions had also addressed challenges in economic, security and other fields, and demonstrated the need for States to promote spaces for civil society and make the right to development a lived reality for communities.
Coordination Meeting with Other United Nations Mechanisms on the Right to Development
ZAMIR AKRAM, Chair-Rapporteur of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Right to Development, said that the Intergovernmental Working Group held a highly productive twenty-sixth session from 12 to 15 May in Geneva, hearing recommendations from Member States on action that should be prioritised in the current challenging global context. During the session, it held four dialogues with over 20 experts focusing on the debt crisis, the collective dimension of the right to development, coercive measures, and illicit financial flows and their repatriation. The Working Group adopted several recommendations, calling on the Human Rights Council to dedicate its next biennial panel discussion on right to development, to be held in 2026, to the commemoration of the fortieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration on the Right to Development. It also planned to conduct intersectional meetings across various geographical groups on emergent topics, and called on the High Commissioner for Human Rights to include in his next report on the right to development an analysis of existing practices and the challenges and obstacles to the realisation of that right.
Mr. Akram said there was ample opportunity for cooperation between the various United Nations mechanisms on the right to development, without overlaps and in full respect of each other’s distinctive mandates. He said he looked forward to continued cooperation and coordination with the Expert Mechanism, with the overall objective of contributing to the full realisation of the right to development.
SURYA DEVA, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development, said his report to the General Assembly said the world disorder contained three strains which needed to be reflected on: economic, environmental and institutional disorder. The right to development provided a pathway to overcome this current emerging world disorder. The world needed to look towards a new model of development which was sustainable, inclusive and participatory. There were four parallel mechanisms working on development, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Intergovernmental Working Group, the Expert Mechanism, and the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the right to development. Instead of duplicating, it was important to build synergy and cooperation, requiring deeper dialogues among these mechanisms. However, due to limited funding, this was not always possible. Mr. Deva hoped that States would mobilise resources for these mechanisms and allocate them adequate funding.
As the world approached the fortieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development, it was important to look at what was next. Mr. Deva hoped that broad consensus could be built for the adoption of an International Covenant on the Right to Development, of which progress had so far been slow. Recent adoptions of declarations by international organizations marked significant international developments in the area of development. The world should look to build on these initiatives to ensure the right to development could be realised for everyone, everywhere.
BONNY IBHAWOH, Chair of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development, welcomed the comments made by the Chair-Rapporteur of the Intergovernmental Working Group and the Special Rapporteur, who had highlighted the significance of the right to development, the important work that had been done, and what remained to be done. Progress on the right to development and achieving a legally binding instrument had been excruciatingly slow. The Expert Mechanism welcomed the call for building synergies. Some progress had been made in this regard - the Special Rapporteur and the Expert Mechanism had recently worked together to publish reports on climate justice and just transition. The Expert Mechanism urged States, United Nations agencies and civil society to engage with all mechanisms dedicated to the right to development.
Russian Federation expressed support for the mechanisms working on the right to development. Protecting and implementing the right to development allowed for a fairer and more equitable society and helped to achieve social justice. The three mechanisms had all promoted the right to development within their respective mandates. The Russian Federation welcomed efforts by these mechanisms to prevent duplication of their efforts, which was particularly important in the context of the rationalisation of the work of the United Nations.
Launch of the Policy Briefs of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development
Introductory Statement
BONNY IBHAWOH, Chair of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development, said several delegates had stated that it would be ideal if the studies of the Expert Mechanism were more accessible for States, civil society organizations and other stakeholders, and as a result, these had been made available on the Expert Mechanism’s website. These policy briefs had been developed in direct response to various policy holders’ requests. Policy briefs went beyond summarising thematic studies and served as a strategic tool, distilling complex messages into suggestions, including policy measures for governments and advocacy points for civil society and the private sector. Through this focused approach, each stakeholder received practical recommendations and guidance, enhancing the usability of the study’s findings in real-world decision-making processes.
Substantial preparation had been undertaken for the policy briefs, considering the needs of stakeholders and soliciting their views on what should be included in the briefs. These briefs aimed to provide best practices which could guide decision-making at a practical level. Delegates were urged to help socialise the policy briefings and take this important information to those who needed it most.
Comments from Members of the Expert Mechanism
ISABELLE DURANT, Member of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development, said these documents needed to be sent to the right people at the right time, that is, when they were relevant to the policy agenda. There was data within the policy brief on climate justice that was relevant to discussions at the upcoming Conference of the Parties. People needed to be presented with this information at the right time.
BONNY IBHAWOH, Chair of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development, said the Expert Mechanism was continually considering ways to reaching more people with its policy briefs.
Closing Statement for the Twelfth Session
BONNY IBHAWOH, Chair of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to the Development, said that, amidst growing challenges to international cooperation and multilateralism, the Expert Mechanism had successfully concluded its twelfth session. It extended its sincere appreciation to Member States, United Nations entities, civil society organizations, academic experts, and student associations for their active engagement and contributions.
Over the past three days, the session had addressed a broad range of key topics, including preparations for the fortieth anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development, climate finance, public participation, the impact of trade tariffs, the implications of artificial intelligence for cultural rights and creative industries, and the indispensable role of civil society in advancing the fundamental right to development. The outcomes of these deliberations would inform the Expert Mechanism’s annual report and guide its future engagements. The annual report of the Mechanism was presented each year at the Human Rights Council in its September session and at the Third Committee of the General Assembly in mid-October.
The Expert Mechanism expressed its deep appreciation for the steadfast support of Member States for the right to development and for the Mechanism’s mandate to advance its realisation. The Mechanism further echoed concerns raised by delegates about persistent challenges such as climate change, debt burdens, unilateral coercive measures, and inequitable financial systems, stressing the need for reform of the international financial architecture and equitable access to resources. Many called for scaling up climate finance, leveraging artificial intelligence for inclusive development, and ensuring that its use helped bridge rather than widen inequalities within and among countries and did not lead to discrimination. Civil society participation and the role of technology in development were also emphasised as critical for inclusive progress.
The Expert Mechanism noted that the right to development was equal to all other human rights and should not be treated as subsidiary. It warned of growing risks from climate-induced migration and artificial intelligence’s impact on cultural diversity, urging stronger regulation and global cooperation. The Mechanism further supported the call of many delegations in urging the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to prioritise the right to development with the same attention given to other rights. It encouraged States to move beyond divides and support the realisation of the right to development at national and international levels.
During the session, the Expert Mechanism presented and engaged with guest speakers on the study “Climate Finance: Vulnerability and Responsibility”. The discussion highlighted that climate change was an existential threat that demanded targeted resources based on vulnerabilities and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities under international treaties related to climate change. Potential funding tools, including carbon monetisation and carbon and biodiversity credit trading, needed to prioritise adaptation for low-emission, high-impact countries. The Expert Mechanism appreciated Member States and stakeholders that supported the study’s recommendations, addressing the need for international financial architecture reform and safeguards against potential adverse impacts of carbon market projects.
During the discussion on how to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development, the Mechanism and panellists emphasised the historic and moral significance of the right to development as a people-centred, inalienable human right. In the ensuing discussion, States, civil society organizations, national human rights institutions and other stakeholders pledged to advance the right to development as an inalienable human right. More than 40 written and oral contributions were received, outlining initiatives such as national right to development action plans, awareness campaigns, education programmes, and dialogues on technology, youth and global solidarity. All pledges would be published on the Expert Mechanism’s website and would inform the Mechanism’s commemorative activities in 2026.
The panel discussion on “Public participation: a tool for development” heard unanimous emphasis on public participation as a fundamental pillar of the right to development and a prerequisite for inclusive, transparent and sustainable governance. The dialogue highlighted States’ public participation framework and community-led projects and stressed civil society engagement in shaping national priorities. Common challenges identified included geographic dispersion, resource limitations, coordination gaps, and risks of elite capture or tokenistic consultations.
The discussion on the “Impacts of trade tariffs on the realisation of the right to development” emphasised that equitable development and the reduction of inequalities required a fair, rules-based multilateral trading system. Rising tariffs and unilateral measures were identified as eroding core principles such as non-discrimination and special and differential treatment, disrupting global value chains and disproportionately harming developing economies. Panellists critically highlighted the disproportionate impact of recent tariff trends on developing and least developed countries, hindering their efforts and abilities to invest in and promote sustainable growth and development.
The thematic discussion on “The impact of artificial intelligence on creative industries, cultural rights, and the right to development” emphasised that artificial intelligence presented both unprecedented opportunities and serious risks for creative industries, cultural rights, and the right to development. Panellists highlighted the need for inclusive definitions of artificial intelligence, ethical governance, and frameworks that went beyond copyright to include indigenous rights, environmental concerns, and cultural sovereignty. They outlined key challenges such as governance lag, concentration of power, and cultural homogenisation, while also identifying opportunities for enhancing creativity, protecting heritage, and supporting linguistic diversity.
In a diverse panel with representatives from Member States and civil society organizations specialising in climate action, women’s rights, peace and humanitarian work, and youth empowerment, the Expert Mechanism discussed “The role of civil society organizations in realising the right to development at the grassroots level”. It underscored the good practices and joint initiatives developed by civil society and States, giving concrete expression to the right to development and also drawing attention to economic and security challenges, and restrictions some civil society organizations faced in the free exercise of their activities.
During the coordination meeting with other United Nations mechanisms on the right to development, the Expert Mechanism warmly welcomed the active engagement of both the Chair-Rapporteur of the Intergovernmental Working Group and the Special Rapporteur on the right to development and regretted that financial constraints prevented their in-person participation, underscoring the urgent need to address such limitations to ensure inclusive and effective collaboration. The Expert Mechanism supported the Working Group’s recommendation to dedicate the 2026 Human Rights Council biennial panel on the right to development to commemorating the fortieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development.
To amplify its impact, the Expert Mechanism launched five policy briefs during the session, responding to stakeholder requests for accessible, actionable guidance. Concluding, the Expert Mechanism urged Member States and all stakeholders to continue working collaboratively to promote and protect the right to development. Mr. Ibhawoh thanked everyone who had been involved in the session over the past three days.
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HRC25.014E