Sustainable Development Goals And Human Rights

This open access book analyses the interplay of sustainable development and human rights from different perspectives including fight against poverty, health, gender equality, working conditions, climate change and the role of private actors. Each aspect is addressed from a more human rights-focused angle and a development-policy angle. This allows comparisons between the different approaches but also seeks to close gaps which would remain if only one perspective would be at the center of the discussions. Specifically, the book shows the strong connections between human rights and the objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations in 2015. Already the preamble of this document explicitly states that "the 17 Sustainable Development Goals ... seek to realise the human rights of all". Moreover, several goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda correspond to already existing individual human rights obligations. The contributions of this volume therefore also address how the implementation of human rights and SDGs can reinforce each other, but also point to critical shortcomings of the different approaches.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted in 2015. The SDGs make the central promise to Leave No One Behind and include a dedicated goal to reduce inequalities. Human rights advocates have put great hopes in the SDGs as an instrument for transformative change. But do they bring about the much-needed paradigm shift? Or were the extensive consultations and negotiations much ado about nothing? "Sustainable Development Goals and Human Rights: A Critical Early Review" follows two central lines of inquiry. The chapters examine to what extent do the SDGs live up to the promise to reduce inequalities and provide for monitoring and policies that address the needs of marginalized and invisible populations. They further suggest transparent and binding accountability processes and mechanisms to ensure that the SDGs are more than lofty goals and bring power to their promise. The volume begins with three chapters that focus on different aspects of SDG 10 and the commitment to reduce inequalities. From this cross cutting SDG, the following three chapters look at the translation of equality and accountability into specific sectors: health (SDG 3) and labour (SDG 8). The chapters were originally published in a special issue of The International Journal of Human Rights.

From 2000 to 2015 the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) mobilized external aid to finance life-changing services in the global South. However, in doing so, the organization failed to meet the challenges often associated with human rights initiatives, which are to make underprivileged communities independently prosperous, equitable, and sustainable. In Global Development and Human Rights, Paul Nelson assesses the current thirty-year effort to make transformative changes in the global South by exploring how this disconnect from human rights weakened the MDGs reputation as a successful aid organization. To overcome the failings of the MDGs, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were formed in 2016 with the intention of managing the issues fundamentally ignored by the MDGs. Drawing on twenty-five years of research on development goals, human rights, and the organizations that promote them, Nelson reasons that transformative change arises out of national and local movements, and shows how human rights can offer leverage and political support that help drive transformative national initiatives.

Building on the previously established Millennium Development Goals, which ran from 2000-2015, the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide the UN with a roadmap for development until 2030. This topical book explores the associated legal and normative implications of these SDGs, which in themselves are not legally binding.

United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 17 Goals blends the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental. They function as commitments to be met by governments, civil society and the private sector for a 2030 collaborative project. The five keywords to achieve it are: People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace, and Partnerships. Another reading is to link these precepts with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights because to obtain real development we need full realization of human rights. This book analyses Sustainable Development considering Sustainable Development Goals, their importance concerning human rights and its significance for a Sustainable Society.

This open access book analyses the interplay of sustainable development and human rights from different perspectives including fight against poverty, health, gender equality, working conditions, climate change and the role of private actors. Each aspect is addressed from a more human rights-focused angle and a development-policy angle. This allows comparisons between the different approaches but also seeks to close gaps which would remain if only one perspective would be at the center of the discussions. Specifically, the book shows the strong connections between human rights and the objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations in 2015. Already the preamble of this document explicitly states that “the 17 Sustainable Development Goals ... seek to realise the human rights of all”. Moreover, several goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda correspond to already existing individual human rights obligations. The contributions of this volume therefore also address how the implementation of human rights and SDGs can reinforce each other, but also point to critical shortcomings of the different approaches.

The aim of this report is to present an overview of the 17 Goals using data currently available to highlight the most significant gaps and challenges.