Message at the Ugnayang Bayan on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as an Anchor of Human Progress

Delivered by Mr Khalid Hassan, Director, ILO Country Office for the Philippines on behalf of Mr Gustavo Gonzalez, United Nations Resident Coordinator at the Ugnayang Bayan on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as an Anchor of Human Progress, 27 November 2020 Manila, Philippines via Zoom

Statement | Manila, Philippines | 27 November 2020
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is an honour to join today on behalf of the United Nations in the Philippines.

Mr Gustavo Gonzalez, the UN Resident Coordinator would like to join you today but had prior commitment. He requested me to deliver this message on his behalf.

Let me first express my gratitude to the Presidential Human Rights Committee Secretariat, for organizing this session on "Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as an Anchor of Human Progress".

It is a pleasure to join you today in this Ugnayang Bayan session.

Distinguished participants,

Poverty, inequalities, hunger and discrimination are some of the biggest challenges facing populations and countries today.

To address these challenges effectively, we must anchor our responses in human rights principles and standards.

But from my perspective, rights principles have the potential to be more than an anchor. They are the sails which, when set appropriately, will allow us to progress towards to our desired destination.

This destination has been laid out, at the international level in the Sustainable Development Goals. And in the Philippines in Ambisyon Natin 2040.

Both these agendas have much in common. They commit us to eradicate poverty, to end hunger, to provide good quality education for all, to achieve gender equality, to protect the environment and much more.

On one hand, achieving these goals seems like an enormous undertaking. But with each failure to reach the goals, a man, woman or child will suffer from hunger, denied basic education or die from preventable disease.

The year 2020 will be marked in history as a particularly challenging one. Many countries, including the Philippines, face challenges to the progress made towards reaching the Sustainable Development Goals.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused economic hardship and has highlighted long-standing and structural inequalities. Those who were already marginalized in many cases lacked adequate social protection and bore the brunt of the consequences.

Earlier this month, I witnessed with my own eyes how years of progress can be blown away in a single night, as I visited areas that have been impacted by typhoons Gomi and Vamco.

But with both the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disaster, I have also witnessed the importance of working together to face these challenges. In many areas, long-term policies and preparation paid off.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The international human rights framework, and in particular the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provides normative and legally binding standards that can help states reach the Sustainable Development Goals. 171 countries have ratified this Covenant, the Philippines among them.

The Covenant requires States to take steps, to the maximum of their available resources, towards the full realization of economic, social and cultural rights for all, particularly for those who are most excluded, disadvantaged and marginalized.

This is a legally binding obligation, meaning that those left behind should have access to legal remedies and redress mechanisms if their basic rights are not upheld.

As such, the Covenant requires states to analyze and identify the most marginalized groups, to consider the impact of their own laws and policies as well as the impact of actions by private actors, and to take steps towards ensuring that basic economic, social and cultural rights are met.

The Covenant underpins many of the Sustainable Development Goals - including zero poverty, the eradication of hunger, access to social protection, gender equality and many other areas.

For the world of work, International Labour Standards and Sustainable Development Goal 8 are essential to promote rights at work and to ensure that growth of the economy provides benefits to all. It is a key pillar of decent work. Economic development should include job creation and working conditions in which people can work in freedom, safety and dignity to improve lives.

Sustainable Development Goal 16 aims to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.

This Goal highlights the importance of good governance and responsive national institutions, as well as the active participation of civil society in decision making. The policies we make now, and the ways in which we implement them will impact not only on whether we achieve the goals by 2030, but have far more long-reaching implications.

While policies are most often made and implemented at the national level, Goal 17 also emphasizes global partnership for sustainable development. This is crucial as we seek to eliminate international inequalities. Article 2 of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights also envisages international assistance and cooperation in achieving the full realization of economic, social and cultural rights.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We will only achieve the aspirations we have set out in the Sustainable Development Goals and Ambisyon 2040 through concerted efforts to reach those outcomes. Anchored on these outcomes is the Decent Work Country Programme, which provides a roadmap to achieve sustainable development and to build a better future of work.

We do not have the power to stop the gales, but we can set the sails so that we are prepared to protect all people in times of crisis. And we can anchor our approaches in economic, social and cultural rights so that we minimize the human suffering, and so that progress is sustainable for the current and future generations.

We must implement policies that address those most affected, often those that were already "left behind".

We must work with all our skills, persistence and creativity to build back better.

We must equally ensure the participation and solidarity of all in this endeavour, and we must listen to those whose voices are too often drowned out.

I strongly believe that we have the skills to navigate through the challenges we face. And from the United Nations, we stand ready to support the Philippines in this endeavour.

Thank you!