The shifting politics in multilateral development and human rights negotiations and the absence of accountability

Written by Sandeep Prasad, Executive Director, Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights and Stuart Halford, Senior Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Sexual Rights Initiative.

The post-2015 development agenda currently being negotiated at the United Nations in New York will dictate development strategies and influence aid flows for the foreseeable future. It is vital, therefore, that what is agreed during these discussions focuses on the means by which to improve the lives and opportunities of those seeking to escape poverty and all that this entails. Yet negotiations on the new development framework have largely ignored a crucial component for addressing disparities and violations in all corners of the world: human rights.

The omission of human rights from the post-2015 framework will have serious consequences for those who already find themselves marginalised, discriminated against, stigmatised, under-served, vulnerable and under-represented, and who can do little more than watch as the development juggernaut passes them by yet again. It is clear that if human rights are kept out of the post-2015 development framework, the mistakes of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which have delivered a lot less than was either hoped for or promised, risk being repeated. For example, MDG 5 Target 5b – Achieve universal access to reproductive health — remains the most off-track of the development goals because of the key omission of sexual and reproductive rights. This is because universal access to reproductive health cannot be achieved without reforms to laws and policies that currently restrict and create barriers to accessing services, such as parental and spousal consent laws, conscientious objection and mandatory waiting periods. Similarly, MDG 5 Target 5a – Reduce by three quarters, the maternal mortality ratio – cannot be achieved without addressing access to safe abortion services, which will require legal and policy reforms in a large number of countries. Furthermore, in regard to both targets, poor and other marginalised women cannot be ignored and disparities in equitable access cannot be hidden in national averages, as has occurred with MDG monitoring. If these inequalities are not addressed in the new post-2015 framework, how can the world hope to make progress in these key areas?