On 11 September, at the 57th session of the Human Rights Council, GI-ESCR  Executive Director Magdalena Sepúlveda participated as a panelist in the discussion on promoting and protecting economic, social, and cultural rights within the context of addressing inequalities.

This panel was called by resolution 54/22 of the Human Rights Council, which emphasised that the whole, equal and effective enjoyment and realisation of economic, social, and cultural rights, exercised without discrimination of any kind, contributes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goal 10, on reducing inequalities within and among countries and ensuring that no one is left behind. 

The Council recognised that the 2030 Agenda covered a wide range of issues relating to economic, social, and cultural rights and contained the commitment to leaving no one behind. It also recognised that its implementation contributed to the further realisation of economic, social, and cultural rights and welcomed international, regional, and national initiatives to this end. 

In the same resolution, the Human Rights Council also recognised the impact of inequalities and discrimination on the enjoyment and realisation of economic, social and cultural rights. In this regard, it recognised the mandate of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, among other things, to support States in promoting and protecting economic, social, and cultural rights and to address inequalities and the significant gaps that the Office faced in terms of its capacity and resources to carry out its role and requested the Secretary-General to scale up OHCHR'sOHCHR's capacity to work on economic, social, and cultural rights. 

The panel discussion and the State interventions shared achievements, challenges, and best practices. They identified ways the Office can best contribute to States' efforts to respect, promote, and fulfill economic, social, and cultural rights by its mandate. This includes the possibility of enhancing the Office's capacity at the regional level to provide better advisory services and technical and financial assistance and address inequalities.

Mr. Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, opened the high-level panel. 

Panelist included:

H.E. Mr. Chen Xu, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations Office in Geneva and other international organizations in Switzerland;

Ms. Maria Lúcia Amaral, Ombudsperson (Provedor de Justiça) of Portugal;

Ms. Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona, Executive Director of the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;

Mr. Mohamed Ezzeldin Abdel-Moneim, Member of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;  

H.E. Mr. Omar Zniber, President of the Human Rights Council.

The presentation of our Executive Director can be found here.