MDGs without Human Rights – An Empty Promise!

MDGs Summit - Side and Partnership Events; New York

Friday 17 September 2010

Organised by the Centre for Reproductive Rights with panelists from:

-          Amnesty International

-          Human Rights Watch

-          Centre for Economic and Social Rights

Key issues discussed:

-   Human Rights should be at the centre of development programmes – i.e. they should be Mainstreamed

-   States have been dealing with Poverty  as a social disaster yet it is a Human Rights obligation for states

-   Accountability is all about rights and not necessarily just about responsibilities

-   Women’s human and reproductive rights are usually ‘policed’ by states, families and societies – making it difficult for women to exercise those rights, especially economic and social rights

 MDGs                           

-   MDGs seem to mainly focus on deprivation without emphasis on inclusion, insecurity, voicelessness – all which would then facilitate empowerment, equality, participation and sustainability of pro-poor policies;

-   Discourse and rhetoric of the MDGs are a challenge as there seems to be a disconnect between the Public Health and Human Rights discourse

-   MDGs are grossly unambitious but progress is still extremely disappointing;

-   Seem to be a donor-driven agenda as there are even no sanctions for non-attainment by states – no accountability;

 Next steps

-     Engage policy makers and civil society to hold states more accountable

-     Data disaggregation should not just be about sex / gender but to also    include resource allocation and distribution and geographic reach - especially for maternal mortality

-   There is need to operationalise some of the abstract human rights principles

 UNDP Contribution

-    Shared information on the recent launch of the global commission on HIV and the Law, which is an opportunity to address some of the rights-based issues

-   Human Rights are actually at the centre of MDGs – making reference to the Millennium Summit

-    MDGs are a good opportunity to link sexuality, rights and development

-    Need for civil society to monitor and track resource allocation Vs actual expenditure at national level – where is the money being spent?

UNSG’s Global Strategy for Maternal and Children’s Health:

-          Limited or no focus on maternal mortality

-          No focus on emergency obstetric care for women

-          No sexuality / sexual rights focus

-         There is need to contextualize the strategy for country                   implementation