2023 marks the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Under the Human Rights 75 Initiative, led by OHCHR, each month a spotlight is put on specific human rights needing concrete and urgent action from States and other stakeholders. The theme of September is “Social Protection, Sustainable Development and the Right to Development”.

In this high-level event, co-organised by OHCHR and ILO, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Volker Türk and Mr. Gilbert Houngbo, the Director-General of the International Labour Organization. Magdalena Sepulveda, GI-ESCR Executive Director, played a dual role as a moderator and panel discussant at the event. Other panellists included H.E. Mr. Thomas Wagner, Deputy Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations and other international organisations in Geneva; H.E. Mr Galib Israfilov, Chair of the Geneva Chapter of the Non-Aligned Movement; Mr. Bonny Ibhawoh, Member, Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development and Ms. Tala Odeh, Human Rights defender, Member of the OHCHR Youth Advisory Group.

The event was attended by Ambassadors to the United Nations in Geneva and civil society organisations.

By reflecting on the review of progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals at the SDG Summit (September 2023), the discussion included how the international community, particularly the UN and IFI, as facilitators for the achievement of SDGs, particularly the eradication of poverty and the reduction of inequality.

As Magdalena put it, “numerous UN treaty bodies, Special Procedures and Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommendations began addressing rights to social protection more comprehensively. Collectively, they have clarified how human rights obligations must guide those who implement social protection programmes. Thanks to this collective effort, there is an enhanced understanding of the right to social security’s scope and content and the implications of a rights-based approach to social protection. Human rights obligations must guide the social protection system design, implementation, oversight and evaluation.”

View the recording here.