Knowledge in Action: Strengthening economic, social and cultural rights through the ESCR Knowledge Hub

work are some of the economic, social, and cultural rights realized not just through standards, but through knowledge in action. The Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights Knowledge Hub was established at the.

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Good afternoon. Yeah, I'm not going to speak in Spanish, don't worry. We don't have translation, so yes. Excellencies, distinguished panelists, and above all, dear colleagues, on behalf of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, I warmly welcome you to this side event titled Knowledge in Action: Strengthening Economic social and cultural rights through the ESCR Knowledge Hub. Let me begin by thanking the permanent missions of China, Portugal, and South Africa for co-sponsoring this event and for their leadership in advancing economic, social, and cultural rights. We meet at an important moment. With only four years remaining to deliver the 2030 Agenda, we know that progress remains too slow and deeply unequal. As we make the final push, we are also beginning to look beyond 2030, guided by the question of what kind of development we want and need for the future. As we do so, it is essential to keep economic, social, and cultural rights front and center. Like all rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, they are central to the promise of the United Nations that every person should live in dignity, free from fear and want. Everyone is entitled to adequate food and housing, to health care and education, to safe drinking water and sanitation, to decent work and social security, to take part in cultural life. These are not aspirations for better times. They are central to sustainable development and to peace and security. We know from experience that the lack or unfulfillment of economic, social, and cultural rights is often the driver of conflict and unrest. This has particular resonance here in New York. In the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, and I would add also increasingly at the Security Council, member states are grappling with questions of poverty, inequality, financing for development, debt, social protection, climate change, and the future of sustainable development. These are also human rights questions. Political choices are about resources, budget, social protections, and public services have direct consequences for people's enjoyment of their rights. A human rights perspective help us see who benefits, who is excluded, whether inequality is being reduced, and whether people have a meaningful voice in decisions that affect their lives. Bringing an economic, social, and cultural rights perspective into these discussions, therefore, help us achieve more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable outcomes. To strengthen our impact, we need a stronger bridges between these conversations. Human rights and sustainable development are still too often discussed in different rooms, even though the decisions taken in those rooms ultimately affect the same people. This bring me to the importance of knowledge and practice. There is a wealth of experience around the world on how and why economic, social, and cultural rights matter, but it is often dispersed. Promising practices and lessons from implementation do not always reach others facing similar challenges. We do not always need to reinvent solutions. We need to become much better at learning from one another. That is the thinking behind the ESCR Knowledge Hub, established by OHCHR at the request of the Human Rights Council. The hub connects practical knowledge and tools, promising practices and expertise to support the implementation of economic, social, and cultural rights. Through tailored country engagement and its online platform, it brings together states, national human rights institutions, civil society, and other partners to share experience, learn from one another, and translate knowledge into action. The Hub is more than a repository of information. Its real value is in what happens when knowledge is shared, adapted to a new context, and put into practice for people. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. Context matters, but experience from one place can inspire action elsewhere and help us understand what worked, what did not, and why. And that exchange should work in both directions. Experience from countries and communities should inform the policy discussions taking place here in New York. And the commitments we make in these rooms should help support those working to turn rights into reality on the ground. That is the reach the Knowledge Hub can help us build between human rights standards and practical solutions, between experience on the ground and global policy discussions, and between international commitment and people's everyday lives. This is also the spirit of the discussion today. We would like to hear what governments and partners have learned, what approaches are working, how can they inspire others? Where are the gaps? And how can we make practical knowledge on economic, social, and cultural rights more accessible and useful? As we accelerate our efforts towards 2030, this exchange of knowledge and experience will become even more important. So let us consider how we can strengthen these collective efforts to afford tangible improvements in the enjoyment of human rights. With that, let me invite you to watch a short video introducing the HAF.

Council, which recognized gay rights to health, housing, education, and work. are some of the economic, social, and cultural rights realized not just through standards, but through knowledge in action. The Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights Knowledge Hub was established at the request of the United Nations Human Rights Council, which recognized gaps in the implementation of economic, social, and cultural rights, and the need for urgent action to enhancing technical assistance and capacity building on these rights. The Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights Knowledge Hub connects governments, national human rights institutions, and civil society with the tools to turn rights into reality, strengthening regional and national capacities on these rights. Equipping institutions with practical tools. Translating Standards into Policy Guidance

With OSHR really benefit us.

So at the beginning, it's quite new for us as well. So we have to learn on the content and the structure of the ICSCR and OSHR did help in terms of bringing expertise and also bringing like resource person to teach us.

Different countries, one goal, making rights real everywhere. A knowledge hub brought to you by the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights section of the United Nations Human Rights Office. 5 things you didn't know about the right to water.

No, I think that's you too, but okay. So that's bring us back to our panel. I have the pleasure to be the moderator as well. So we have spoken about the importance of learning from experience. We now want to hear what that looks like in practice from different countries and institutions as well. So I have now the pleasure of inviting our first speaker, His Excellency Ambassador Soon Lee. from the Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations. Excellency, China is a strong advocate and supporter of ESCR Knowledge Hub. Could you share the thinking behind the initiative and how you see the hub contributing to the practical implementation of economic, social, and cultural rights in addressing inequalities? Ambassador.

Thank you very much, Assistant Secretary-General. Claudia, and also thank you all colleagues who participated in this very important side event. I had personal attachment to this knowledge hub because at that time I was back in Beijing and considering all the proposals and the initiatives tabled by many of our colleagues in Geneva. This is one of the initiatives in Geneva together with all the member states. to finally get the initiative become a reality and to get the resolution adopted with consensus. That's a multilateral and collaborative efforts of all the member states, and that also shows the commitment of all the member states to the economic, social, and cultural rights, which is which is something we think is inalienable of the human rights. And also, we do believe this is something the international community needs to strengthen in the coming years, especially for a lot of developing countries. First of all, I want to thank OHCHR for organizing this very timely event and also for its dedicated efforts. dedicated to work as well on economic, social, and cultural rights. I also appreciate the contributions for all the participants and friends present today. We need to admit profound global challenges and widening deficits in security, development, and governance. Yet our shared aspiration remains unchanged: a better life for all and a more just, balanced, and inclusive system of global human rights governance. In this connection, the Global Governance Initiative proposed by China last year could inspire our way forward, which can capture three keywords for our discussions today: people, multilateralism, and actions. Claudia, you just asked about the Chinese take of this knowledge hub, and that's what we think is important in driving the economic and social cultural rights forward. People, multilateralism, and actions. First, we do believe human rights promotion should be anchored in a people-centered approach. Human rights cannot fully flourish where people's basic needs go unmet. This was reflected in the Nobel Prize laureate Bertrand Russell's famous bread and democracy argument. Access to food, healthcare, social security, adequate housing and a cultural life, underpins enjoyment of civil and political rights. Our view has always been that economic, social, and cultural rights, including the right to development, are equally important as civil and political rights. They are universal, indivisible, interrelated, and interdependent, as affirmed in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. China's approach to human rights is to put people first, share the fruits of development more widely and fairly, and promote meaningful participation in national governance through whole process people's democracy. Second, human rights governance should be bolstered by multilateral cooperation. Economic, social, and cultural challenges across borders. Advancing economic, social, and cultural rights therefore requires true multilateralism grounded in dialogue on equal footing, mutual learning, and the respect for countries' different human rights paths based on their own national conditions. China has endeavored to turn this into institutional progress. In 2003, together with fellow developing countries, we advanced human rights Council resolution, resolution 54/22, which requested the establishment of the Economic and Social Cultural Rights Knowledge Hub. We welcome its inception in 2024, together with all the Member States and also the Office of OHCHR support, and the launch of an online platform last year to strengthen sharing of best practices. We commend OHCHR for turning this mandate into a practical platform. It deserves sustained support and the active contribution of all stakeholders. Let us join hands to make the hub a place where shared knowledge is turned into shared progress. Third, human rights progress should be driven by concrete actions. In China, we always say, for any big or beautiful initiative to become a reality, there are three key words: implementation, implementation, and implementation. China has consistently prioritized economic and social cultural rights in its national human rights action plans, making remarkable progress in poverty reduction and building a world's largest system of healthcare, education, and social security. We believe that such experience can be shared as part of our efforts to strengthen South-South cooperation for stronger capacity building. In this spirit, China hosted economic and social cultural rights training workshops for Global South countries in 2024 and 25. In 2024, I had the honor to host all the participants in Beijing. The third workshop will take place next month, and we look forward to all the friends and colleagues' active participation. Looking ahead, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies can facilitate realization of economic and social cultural rights. We encourage the hub to harness such opportunities, bridge the digital divide, and ensure that technological progress benefits all. Dear colleagues, China remains steadfast in its commitment to advance all human rights. We stand ready to work with all partners in Geneva, in New York, and beyond to build a stronger consensus on economic, social, and cultural rights and the right to development. Together, let us steer global human rights governance onto the right track. and create a future where everybody enjoys security, prosperity, and dignity. Thank you very much, claudia.

Thank you very much, ambassador. Your comments remind me that in a different life, when I was ambassador of Chile in Geneva with a different hat, I actually had to lead the negotiations on this resolution. And it was, I always use it as an example, when multilateralism is able to come together across regions and to reach a consensus on a matter like this one that is really about the dignity of people on economic and social rights. It was one of my success actually as ambassador to lead that part of this negotiation as well with this very excellent group of partners. So, with that, let me now give the floor to His Excellency, Mr. Martinus van Schalkwyk, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of South Africa to the United Nations. Excellency, South Africa has collaborated very closely with OHCHR to advance economic, social, and cultural rights. Could you share some reflections on that experience and how the Knowledge Hub can help strengthen this kind of practical cooperation?

Good afternoon, Claudia, and chair or moderator, I should say. Thank you very much for this opportunity. Good afternoon, everybody, excellencies, colleagues. Really appreciate this opportunity to participate, and we are honored to also co-host with China and with Portugal this side event. So from South Africa's perspective, we really appreciate the High Commission for Human Rights for this initiative, which in our view highlights the centrality of economic, social, and cultural rights. as a key component for us in the international human rights ecosystem. We also welcome the opportunity to reflect on the importance of knowledge sharing, which is important in advancing practical, evidence-based and human rights-centered policy making. We commend the efforts undertaken to strengthen collaboration amongst Member States, United Nations agencies, entities, national human rights institutions, as well as academia, civil society, and developing partners in promoting practical realization of these rights. From our perspective, effective human rights implementation requires action rather than just only normative commitments. It requires practical tools, credible evidence, and the systematic exchange of experiences among states and shareholders. Human rights-based policymaking is impactful when it's informed by lessons learned, good practices, and context-specific experiences that enable governments to translate these national obligations into concrete outcomes for our people. So in terms of knowledge sharing, it therefore serves as a critical bridge, in our view, between political commitment and implementation, particularly in addressing persistent challenges, especially which we experience in our country, such as poverty, inequality, unemployment, food insecurity, access to healthcare, quality education, housing, social protection, and inclusive sustainable development. In our national context in South Africa, we have integrated human rights considerations into public policy and development planning through constitutional guarantees, legislative frameworks, oversight institutions, and participatory government processes. So our experience has demonstrated that policy interventions are strengthened when informed by comparative experiences and supported by reliable data, interdisciplinary research, and continuous dialogue amongst practitioners. Equally, we have benefited from the engagement within the multilateral forums where member states exchange experiences on addressing structural inequalities, strengthening social protection systems, promoting substantive gender equality, and ensuring that no one is left behind. And these are really valuable in terms of learning from other states how they do it and other entities, and that enriches our own experience and implementation. In this regard, from our perspective, the Knowledge Hub has the potential to make an important contribution to advancing the practical human rights-based policymaking as a platform for collecting, disseminating, and analyzing experiences related to economic, social, and cultural rights, the Hub can assist, in our view, policymakers in identifying innovative solutions, accessing comparative practices, and understanding the challenges and opportunities associated with implementation in diverse national settings. The Knowledge Hub, in our view, can also further support national authorities by providing accessible resources that connect international standards with practical policy measures that we would want to undertake nationally. This is particularly important for developing countries like ours that often face capacity constraints, despite our commitment to advancing human rights obligations. The availability of case studies, policy tools, research findings, as well as judicial developments and implementation guidance, contributes in our view significantly to strengthening national planning processes and institutional capacity. Furthermore, the Hub can facilitate South-South cooperation, something that's really important for us, which promotes peer learning among countries confronting similar developmental challenges. Developing nations contrary to what many believe, possess valuable experiences in expanding social protection, combating inequality, and improving access to basic services and promoting inclusive development. By creating opportunities for the systematic sharing of such experiences, the Hub can contribute, in our view, to more context-sensitive and locally informed policy responses. We value the hub's potential to promote stronger cooperation between relevant stakeholders, and this enriches policy development by ensuring that diverse perspectives, expertise, and lived experiences inform decision-making processes. Such collaboration is essential for us for developing policies that are both rights-based and responsive to the needs of our communities. To demonstrate our commitment, South Africa has forged a partnership with the OHCR, UN Women, UNICEF, and ILO, which convened a policy dialogue in Pretoria in July this year. And it focused on informal economy workers, particularly domestic workers and farm workers, to identify practical measures to protect their rights culminating in actionable recommendations to inform policy adjustments on social protection coverage, regulatory simplification, as well as inclusive urban planning. Also, our permanent mission in Geneva also co-sponsored a side event on the knowledge in action and to strengthen economic and social and cultural rights through the ESCR Knowledge Hub. This was during the 63rd Human Rights Council in September this year. Chairperson, as we advance the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the relationship between human rights and sustainable development remains increasingly evident. Therefore, the Knowledge Hub can support integrated policy approaches that simultaneously advance human rights, development, social justice, and economic inclusion. By fostering evidence-based policymaking and facilitating the exchange of practical experiences, the Hub can contribute to more effective implementation of both human rights obligations and sustainable development commitments. So we remain committed to supporting initiatives that promote cooperation, mutual learning, capacity building, and exchange of best practices in the field of economic, social, and cultural rights. In conclusion, we view the Knowledge Hub as an invaluable mechanism. for strengthening practical human rights implementation through evidence-informed policy-making, peer learning, and international cooperation. And we look forward to continued engagement and collaboration in ensuring that knowledge and experience are effectively harnessed to improve lives and the well-being of all our people. Thank you very much for the opportunity.

Let me thank the Deputy Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations and express how much I appreciate all, of course, of your comment in terms of being action oriented, but in particular, the one about cooperation, South-South cooperation. I think on issues related to economic and social rights and particularly development. Countries from the global south and developing countries in particular have a wealth of experience on this issue, and they're very creative and innovative precisely because they have constraints. So, and this is why we have, I say, from a country from the south, so much to share on this. And I think that's an important part of the objective of the knowledge hub as well. So with that, let me now give the floor to the next speaker, Her Excellency Ms. Vera Demorin Ferrer.

Just go for the last name, Avila.

Okay. No, it's a very long name. I'm used to long names because I'm from Latin America, but let me say Vera Avila. She is the Deputy Permanent Representative of Portugal to the United Nations. And Portugal has been a historical champion of economic and social rights. So it's really An honor to have you here in this panel as well, and I would like to ask you, how can states and other partners make greater use of the knowledge have to translate international commitment into action at the national level?

Well, thank you, madam ASG. We could do it all different separate side event and I'd explain all about the histories of long surnames in Portugal, but that's not That's not why we're here. Distinguished colleagues, I mean, thank you very much to the OCHR for organizing this event. It's an honor to join my good friends from China and South Africa on this distinguished panel. I may not address your questions directly, but I hope I will get there because you off kicked by saying that historically, and we sort of played a role in driving the economic, social, and cultural rights agenda forward. We feel that we are neither North or South. We're a UN nation, so it's wonderful you were referring to the experience the South can, but I think we also learn with everybody. And so it's great to be here. Now, what did we do and why are we here? I mean, we have been, as you said, a long supporter of economic, social, and cultural rights. When we still had the Commission for Human Rights, we started presenting a resolution on economic and social, cultural rights. And then we continued with this omnibus resolution in the Human Rights Council. And we learned ourself, and I think this has got a lot to do with what we're doing here today, the knowledge action, knowledge and action, we also learned. Some time way back, we also decided that we should also bring forward a resolution on the right to education. So this is our credentials in terms of resolution tabling. We do it And then another historic opportunity, we actually chaired our dear departed friend, Katarina Kek, chaired the working group who was responsible for drafting the optional. I see a lot of you nodding, so you know her. Bless her soul. We chaired the working group that drafted the optional protocol to the covenant on economic, social, and cultural rights. This was really a major breakthrough. And then we, Portugal, we also moved forward quickly with the ratification process. We weren't the first, we were the second. I was personally involved in that back in the past. It was an honor, you know, to make sure that we had the amount of countries necessary for it to enter into force. So, you know, this gives us a little bit of the background of what we were doing for economic and social and cultural rights. Now, why were we doing this? You know, nationally, one of our major human rights priority is the abolition of the death penalty. So we are extremely committed to political and civil, political and civil rights. But overall, what we feel is that there, it's just human rights, all of it. And we felt that there was a lot of action, there was this hierarchy between the two sets of rights, and we couldn't live with this. This was something which we did not like, we still don't like. We actually, you know, in a lot of texts, we say civil and political rights and economic, social, and cultural rights. Well, we tried to draft nationally, break it up, language counts. We put it alphabetically. All of them, they all count equally. All human rights are universal, indivisible, and interdependent. So that is the mantra. So we brought up economic, social, and cultural rights because hopefully, with these texts, with these resolutions, we can break up this artificial hierarchy of rights. Okay, that goes for history. So, going back to my notes. I'll look at them and get back to you. We keep working on this. For instance, this year, no, last year, 2025, we, our economic, social, and cultural rights resolution in the Human Rights Council focused on the right to development, which my colleagues have already mentioned. So we're also evolving, you know, moving with the trends, see where it's taking us, where are we going, where do we need work? The important thing is that, you know, put your money where your mouth is. Economic, social, and cultural rights, and I think this has a lot to do with what we're talking about here today, it starts at home. What are we doing nationally in Portugal? Now, we have a lot of problems, like many other people. Go on to the news. You'll see people in my country right now are demonstrating about the right to having a house, housing. Yeah, Stefano's going all over the place because I'm mentioning it. But, you know, we have a problem there. The best thing about human rights is nobody is perfect. Everybody has to move forward. That is why we sit together. That is why we learn. That is why we share experiences. What are we doing back home? A little bit about our domestic approach to things. Let me give you a couple of examples of what we're doing. We came out with a decent work agenda. You know, that is important part of economic, social, and cultural rights. Another thing, which is very dear to us, and it is a problem, the informal caregiver statute. You know, people who take care of people with disabilities, of older people, a statute came up. This was happening very much in the informal economy. These people had no rights, but we thought, hey, we have to take care of them. That's another step. It's part of economic, social, and cultural rights. Our new national strategy to combat poverty 2130, a lot of economic, social, and cultural rights. You know, we have a lot of problems, a lot of poor people, unfortunately. One poor person is One too many. So we keep working. These are a little bit of how we then translate it into our domestic policy. Now, external policy. It's not just about presenting resolutions at the UN, side events, interregional platforms. That's all great, by the way. Wonderful. But do a little bit more, work with others. You talked about South-South cooperation. I think one of you mentioned the ILO. I mean, we worked with the ILO, with our Portuguese-speaking countries, brothers around the world, to help them put into place, to share experience, to put into place social protection mechanisms. So that is something that we're also doing. Another thing about resilience and moving forward. capacity building. We are also part of the, there's the UN Portugal Digital Fellowship, which supports partners countries in technological development and digital transformation. So, you know, we're trying to do some stuff. But I think the single message which really comes out is there's no single model. I mean, there's not a recipe which fits everybody. We also have to be respective of, you know, we can share, we can learn from each other. There's no question about, no discussion for us that economic, social, and cultural rights must be respected. That is a no discussion on that. But then the way you go about respecting them, that we have to also bear in mind national approaches. We have to, there is value in sharing. I mean, we figure out what works, what doesn't work, what works for one, doesn't work for the other. These discussions are good. So, in a nutshell, we will continue doing what we've been doing. We will continue supporting, let me get this right, civil, cultural, economic, social, political, did I miss one? Probably did, rights, all of them equally. Just as important, we are not, it's lovely that you see us as economic, social, and cultural rights, but we are for human rights, full stop. Next year, 2027, in the Human Rights Council, we will again, of course, table our resolution. And we will continue to support the OHCHR. I mean, they -- we are all facing lack of funding. They need funding, and here I sort of -- nobody paid me to say this, but they do need money, and they do need money for the economic, social, and cultural rights agenda, because that is where, you know, the cuts come first. On a slightly controversial note, I would like to conclude that ultimately, the measure of our success is not how much knowledge we accumulate. Knowledge is great, but ultimately, what we have to do is how we implement it and how effectively we turn it into rights for everybody. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Vera, for a very interesting presentation, which we learned so much how domestic policy influence foreign policy and then your multilateral engagement for pointing out the invisibility of right once again. This is something that us, of course, we push very strongly. It's part of our mandate, but it's very good to also to hear it from you. Yeah, excellent presentation. Thank you so much. So let me continue now. We will hear are pre-recorded messages from two speakers who could not join us today. So the first is Cesar Villanueva, Director General for Human Rights and Democracy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, who will share Mexico's experience of engaging with the Knowledge Hub. We will then hear from Richard Palpal Latok, chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines, who will share a practical example of how they have can support national human rights institutions. So let's turn into the messages. Thank you.

In a context international marked by challenges persistent related to poverty, inequalities, exclusion, and effective access to economic, social, and cultural rights, Resulta especialmente relevante contar con espacios que permitan intercambiar experiencias, fortalecer capacidades y compartir aprendizajes entre Estados. México considera que el Portal DESC constituye un mecanismo de referencia con gran potencial para promover la asistencia técnica, el fortalecimiento institucional y la difusión de prácticas prometedoras. las cuales están orientadas a la implementación efectiva de los derechos económicos, sociales, culturales y ambientales. Por ello, desde el inicio de nuestro diálogo con la sección DESC de la Oficina del Alto Comisionado, identificamos una clara convergencia entre los objetivos del portal y los esfuerzos que nuestro país ha impulsado para avanzar en la construcción de una agenda de justicia social basada en la dignidad humana, la igualdad sustantiva y el bienestar de todas las personas. Esta sintonía motiva a México a incorporar buenas prácticas y prácticas prometedoras al portal DESC. En ese sentido, México cuenta con acciones concretas que han contribuido a la realización progresiva de los derechos económicos, sociales, culturales y ambientales. Por ejemplo, la política de recuperación sostenida del salario mínimo, muestra cómo las medidas dirigidas a fortalecer el ingreso de las personas trabajadoras puede contribuir simultáneamente a la reducción de la pobreza y el fortalecimiento del derecho al trabajo en condiciones dignas. Asimismo, se han identificado experiencias relacionadas con la ampliación de la cobertura de salud, la inclusión laboral de personas mayores, la transversalización de los DESCA en la política pública nacional y la incorporación de criterios de sostenibilidad y derechos humanos en los procesos de contratación pública. Todas estas prácticas nos han permitido observar que la realización de los DESCA requiere respuestas integrales, coordinadas y centradas en las personas. En México, hemos mantenido un diálogo continuo con la sección DESC de la Oficina del Alto Comisionado para identificar metodologías de documentación de experiencias, criterios para la identificación de buenas prácticas y mecanismos para robustecer la calidad de la información que será incorporada al portal DESC. Asimismo, esta experiencia ha propiciado un intercambio interinstitucional que nos ha permitido reflexionar sobre cómo traducir prácticas nacionales en conocimientos útiles y potencialmente replicables para otros contextos. La evolución de este trabajo culminará en la celebración de un foro sobre derechos económicos, sociales, culturales y ambientales el 30 de septiembre de este año, el cual estará orientado a reflexionar sobre la contribución de las políticas públicas del Estado mexicano a la construcción de una agenda de justicia social y bienestar. Este espacio será enriquecido por un diálogo entre instituciones públicas, organismos internacionales, academia y sociedad civil sobre sus resultados y desafíos. Nosotros vemos al portal DESC no solo como un espacio para compartir conocimientos existentes, sino también como un catalizador para la generación de nuevos intercambios y nuevas formas de cooperación entre diversos actores. Este proceso también ha tenido un efecto positivo en la forma en que México se prepara para participar en los mecanismos internacionales de derechos humanos. incluida la sustentación del séptimo informe periódico ante el Comité de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales, que tendrá lugar en noviembre próximo. México reitera su disposición para continuar colaborando con la Oficina del Alto Comisionado en el fortalecimiento del Portal DESC e invitamos a otros Estados a sumarse en esta valiosa colaboración constructiva, dinámica y orientada a resultados. Estamos convencidos de que la construcción de sociedades más justas, incluyentes e igualitarias requiere voluntad política y también espacios que permitan aprender de las iniciativas de otros y compartir conocimientos. México seguirá apostando por una visión de los derechos económicos, sociales, culturales y ambientales centrada en las personas y por mecanismos de cooperación que permitan transformar experiencias nacionales en aprendizajes colectivos. We are convinced that sharing knowledge is also a way to advance towards social justice. Thank you very much.

On behalf of the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines, we thank the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for having us in today's session on the importance of knowledge sharing in strengthening the protection and promotion of human rights for all persons. Human rights are universal and inherent. All persons possess these rights by virtue of their humanity. However, the exercise and enjoyment of rights, including their protection and promotion, are oftentimes embodied in different laws, policies, and traditions, which affect the depth and extent of their implementation. Some contexts are heavy on legal instruments, while others are more focused on programs and interventions. In both cases, There is a diverse range of human rights experiences that can be a source of learning for different stakeholders, in view of improving human rights practices, whether domestically or internationally. This is particularly true for practices on economic, social, and cultural rights. Knowledge sharing on ESCR provides practical insights and opportunities to develop better solutions to human rights challenges. National human rights institutions have an important role in this process through their work in monitoring, documenting, and reporting on human rights situations. The information and experiences they gather can help other NHRIs strengthen their own work. The CHRP has been actively supporting this exchange of knowledge and experiences with fellow NHRIs in the region and beyond. particularly through its participation in the OHCHR's ESCR Knowledge Hub activities. Since last year, the Commission has been working with the OHCHR through its small grant initiatives. In 2025, the CHRP implemented a project entitled "Assessing the Impacts of Climate Change on Indigenous Knowledge, Systems, and Practices." The project examined how climate change has affected the lives and traditional practices of the Agta Dumagat and Agta Remontado communities in the Sierra Madre Mountains. Indigenous peoples have long been stewards of nature, living in close relationship with their environment and passing on their knowledge and traditions across generations. However, changing climate conditions and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns have made it more difficult for these communities to preserve their traditions and ways of life. Climate change affected the physical integrity of their sacred sites, burial grounds, natural medicine and herbs, and their indigenous accessories. It also compounded already existing difficulties faced by indigenous peoples, such as their lack of access to basic services, poverty, systemic discrimination, and exposure to armed conflict. Parts of the outputs for this project were a human rights situation report on the issue and a series of public fora in different parts of the Philippines to mainstream the results of the monitoring activities conducted by the Commission on Climate Change and IKSPs. Information on this public fora is available at the ESCR Knowledge Hub website, as well as in the CHRP social media accounts. This year, the CHRP is implementing another project with the OHCHR, strengthening capacities and opportunities in addressing issues related to the right to a healthy environment. This project focuses on strengthening NHRI capacities to monitor and address environmental issues that negatively impact the enjoyment of rights of affected communities. It is envisioned that the outputs from the project activities can contribute to the growing community of practice of NHRIs in addressing environmental rights violations and abuses. This project comes timely as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has recently passed its declaration on the right to a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. thereby providing guidance to states on implementing policies and programs geared towards environmental and human rights protection. The knowledge that this project generates can be shared with fellow NHRIs in the region and enable inter-NHRI cooperation, especially for transboundary environmental issues. The ESCR Knowledge Hub has been a valuable platform for NHRIs to learn from one another. It serves as a repository of information, knowledge, and practices that can be easily accessed for guidance and support. The OHCHR has also been actively engaging with NHRIs to share knowledge from the Hub, while also encouraging us to contribute our best practices so we may support other NHRIs in their work. This initiative helps strengthen the work and mandates of NHRIs, particularly in monitoring and documenting human rights situations. The CHRP is pleased to be part of the ESCR Knowledge Hub and contribute to the exchange of practical experiences and knowledge that can help advance ESCR across different countries and communities. While our experiences and approaches may differ, we share a common goal: to protect and promote human rights for all. Through initiatives such as the ESCR Knowledge Hub, we have the opportunity to learn from one another. share our experiences, and draw on the knowledge and expertise of fellow human rights institutions and stakeholders. The Commission greatly values this opportunity to strengthen our collective work on economic, social, and cultural rights. Once again, we thank the OHCHR for its continued support for the Commission's human rights work and for giving us this opportunity to share our experiences and initiatives on the SCR. We look forward to continuing this exchange of knowledge and strengthening our cooperation with fellow NHRIs. Maraming salamat po.

Well, let me thank Cesar for the experience of Mexico and also Richard regarding also the experience of the Philippines. So, and with that, let me now give the floor to our next speaker. She is Ms. Mahinour El Badrawi, Global Partnership Lead at the Center for Economic and Social Rights, speaking from a civil society perspective. And one of the questions is, what kind of knowledge sharing and capacity building are more useful in helping a state translate their economic, social, and cultural rights obligations into policy? And where can knowledge have at most values? You have the floor.

Thank you so much, Madam ASG, and thank you, OHCHR and co-hosting missions for bringing us together today. So my name is Mahinur Al-Badrawi. Thank you so much for the excellent pronunciation of the name, much appreciated. And I serve as the Global Partnerships Lead at the Center for Economic and Social Rights, or CSR. And we've been working for the past 30 years with national partners connecting human rights standards with economic policy and issues of public finance. So I will share a couple of examples that I'm hoping answer this question. But before I begin, I want to say that our collaboration with OHCHR goes back to many, many years, at least since 2009, where we published our joint publication, Who Will Be Accountable? which is a manual for skill sharing with national human rights institutes on economic and social policy and how they affect rights. So until today, our NHRIs materials still draw on the guidance of OHCHR on indicators and on budgets, and we see that the Knowledge Hub offers a very valuable opportunity to build on this shared learning and to make it more accessible across different countries and public institutions. So thank you, oHCHR, and everyone that's supported the hub. So in answering the question with a couple examples, I will share CSR's Decoding Injustice methodology and a couple of its applications, which builds on this shared work and supports our partners in connecting people's lived experience with the policies and the resource decisions that shape rights outcomes. So really briefly, Decoding Injustice organizes our work on research and advocacy in three steps: interrogating the situation of human rights problems, like you said, illuminating them further with data and indicators, and then hopefully inspiring action for change. In interrogate, we use a four steps framework called OPERA. O is for rights outcomes, PE is for policy efforts, R for resources, and A for overall assessment, where we ask what people are experiences, what steps duty bearers are taking, how resources are being raised and spent, and how those policy choices measure up against ESCR obligations. And each question, of course, calls for a different type of knowledge and data and evidence. For outcomes, we analyze disaggregated data and indicators on people's lived experience. On policy efforts, we look at laws, policies, and administrative records. For resources, of course, we examine revenue, raising, allocation, and spending. And for assessment, we consider the overall input of the above. And then in our last step, we bring official data together to inspire partners to use this evidence to develop recommendations that are evidence-based to advocate for national-level improvements. So I want to share an example from our partnerships in Tunisia that started in 2003, where CSR partnered with the Tunisian Observatory of the Economy, or OTE, in a learning exchange where we shared the summarized OTU brought together their fiscal policy expertise and local knowledge. In 2004, OTU applied the coding and justice in assessing rural areas problems called Kasserine. And the challenge there was to assess the gap between the constitutional commitment for free education and the barriers that the rural community faces. That included under-resourced schools, local dropout rates, long distances between the community and the institutions, etc. Our partners brought the teachers, the trade unions, parents, and students together to examine those barriers and to connect them to policy and resource choices. And the work produced a report that led to recommendations grounded in the community experience, which helped OTE bring budget analysis into a shared conversation about the right to education to the parliament. So that was, for us, a very useful experience in how we mobilize all these elements together. Another example is in El Salvador in 2004, where we also partnered with a national level NGO called FUDISSEN to apply this Decoding Injustice method also to rural communities. Let me see if I can pronounce this properly, called Cuisinat. The challenge there was the deterioration of public services and stress on public budgets, school issues, shortages in healthcare in the local community. And with that collaboration, FUDISAN translated this methodology with participatory workshops that connected this experience to public spending patterns. After the community members gathered all this evidence together, they petitioned health authorities using this evidence-based, human rights-based demands to mobilize for change with the relevant public institutions, and they got assigned a doctor in their local health unit. So we were very happy with that outcome and seeing how data and knowledge really help bring about change. One last thing that I would like to share is connecting those national choices to global obligations. So these cases show us why national choices really matter, but they also remind us that states' obligations extend beyond their own borders. Article 2, sub 1, as everyone in the room knows, of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights requires States to act both individually and through institutional system and cooperations to mobilize maximum available resources for the realization of rights. And the Committee as well clarifies that States have the obligation not to obstruct one another's ability to meet the Covenant's obligations, including through international financial practices and tax treaties, etc. So for this reason, we're using this same framework to engage with the United Nations framework on international tax cooperation and the financing for development processes, looking at how debt and tax negotiations play out, and also advocating for rights-based international development cooperation, including with IFIs and MDBs, et cetera. So, yeah, in closing, I want to share that we continue to draw on the work of OHCHR, and we see that the ESCR Knowledge Hub is a very valuable resource for advancing both national and global level accountability with state and multi-state actors. Yeah, so I want to also share that we are using the coding and justice methodology to also bring the national level evidence to those global spaces and to connect how human rights standards, data, and the lived experience of our partners can provide a vision for policy change, both the national level, but also in global structures. So, yeah, thank you. Thank you very much for having me today. And we are sharing next week our lessons also from Ghana, from Uganda, and Zambia, and from now until Q4. One of next year, we'll be doing a series of webinars that share the learnings from these experiences. If you would like to be connected to those webinars or listen in, let me know and I can share more details. Thanks so much.

Thank you so much, Mahinur, for sharing the experience from civil society perspective and all you have been doing actually across the world. It's very impressive, and in particular El Salvador and Tunisia. So thank you so much for that. Now we have like five minutes, it seems, for taking the floor, questions, comments, answer. I leave the floor open. Yes, please. If you can introduce yourself too, thank you.

Good afternoon. This is Amr from the delegation of Egypt. I'd like to thank you, SG, and the three DPRs and my compatriot from the civil society. We were among the main sponsors and the proponents of 54/22, so we can be happier and more proud to be here with you today in this event. When we were working with South Africa and China on this project, this was exactly the type of actionable deliverable that we want to see. and also to try to connect so many different pieces here and there, the omnibus by Portugal, even our own portfolio as part of NAM on the right to development, our right to work with Mexico, and how can actually all this can sit in one place and can start to demonstrate and produce deliverables. So we're very happy to see this progress, credit due to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. I mean, much was done in the last two to three years, and we are already seeing it happening. Another word is also very due credit to Portugal on its hallmark leadership on economic, social, and cultural rights. For many years, I was first-hand witness of what Portugal is doing on this, and the success of the Portuguese leadership in this dossier, in my view, is due to two things. First, that Portugal tries very hard to see the world in 3D, in a three-dimensional fashion, including the needs of the developing countries and the challenges that we are facing, including access to concessional finance. Being a developed country, it never shied away of trying to show the responsiveness to what really matters to the global south. The second is that also in my view, that Portugal chose that we move together rather than moving fast and less inclusively. And for this reason that in economic, social, and cultural rights, there are a set of very mature understandings on issues that are very complicated and quite delicate. on justiciability, on the progressiveness of implementation, on indices and indicators, all this was happening under Portugal's shift, so thanks to Portugal. For us, the Knowledge Hub is a breath of fresh air. We are currently working on our second strategy, on national strategy on human rights and its associated action plan, and as you can, it doesn't come as a surprise, as a very evidently developing country, economic, social, and cultural rights is a big piece in the strategy and in the action plan. And we have our technical cooperation program with the Office of the High Commissioner. We want to see how the knowledge hub can actually increase or push the envelope further, because one of the things that we see in the hub, in addition to bridging the gap between the norms and the practice, or moving from rhetoric to reality, like South Africa always likes to say, is that it helps member states from developing countries to be able to elaborate and develop fundable projects that are human rights conscious, but they are also cross-sectoral, and actually how they can place them under their implementation plans for the SDGs and otherwise. I know that we are still actually more or less in a prototype stage, but moving with that pace, I think this would be very helpful to us and many others. Thanks again.

Thank you so much for your, yes.

I like to praise some of the co-sponsors on examples they didn't give because they mostly spoke about the international experience, but South Africa and Portugal were key in the constitutional incorporation of economic, social, and cultural rights in equal standing with civil and political rights. And both countries have been also key in the judicial protection. So both the Constitutional Court of Portugal and the Constitutional Court of South Africa have key decisions on many issues, non-retrogression, housing, the use of reasonable tests to consider the progressive realization of rights, et cetera. And then China is the most successful country in the history of humankind in reduction of poverty, and looking at that process from a rights perspective would also share light on how good practices have been translated from economic growth to ensuring that people have access to social protection, health care, and others. I think this is a kind of knowledge that the Knowledge Hub requires. So, I mean, getting examples of how these concrete steps in judicial protection, in recognition of rights in the constitution, and in translating those standards into concrete policies. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Christian. Let me see if anyone would like to take the floor at this point. Let me also say that our colleague from Geneva, Harumi. is also here. She is responsible for the work in Geneva, so I also would like to thank her. Yes, for the work. Would you like to say just something? Yeah.

Thank you, ASG, and hello, everybody. So both Chanmi and I, we are the face behind the online platform, so it's such a nice opportunity to be here. Thank you to all the co-sponsors and to all the countries that have really supported the work of the office. This comes really as an extension of the work that the office was already doing.

But it gave it a.

Boost to be able to strengthen and enhance the work on ESCR within this indivisibility approach to all human rights. And as you've heard from the Philippines, for example, we're also covering a right to development, right to a healthy environment as well. We really want to emphasize that it's the two sides, is the in-person technical support, technical cooperation advisory services that the office provides, and that is, I think, the most important, but also the online platform to complement that, where you can really find resources to help you. It's practical tools, executive summaries of information produced by the Office and by other UN partners, but for people that are very, very busy and that receive a lot of information. So we really are trying to make this user-friendly, accessible as per the mandate. And we really hope to see examples of the efforts that you are doing in the Promising Practices Portal. And we're very happy to help you showcase some of the resources, the examples, and the work that you are doing to implement those rhetoric and recommendations. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much, Harum. It's always good to put a face behind the platforms. So, yeah, so to remind us that we are humans behind. So thank you so much for that. I would like to give like a final quick word to all the speakers in case they would like to say something, maybe in the same order. Ambassador.

I think I personally learned a lot from the other distinguished panelists and especially from the questions and also comments from the floor. I think there are two things that struck me most. First, everybody stressed the importance of economic, social, and cultural rights to be put on equal footing on the civil and political rights. Why we say this? And because this is really a disparity between these two. where there's somebody who attach more importance to the first one rather than the later one. So that's exemplify our efforts to make sure those two categories of rights are really on the equal footing when we are driving those essential human rights forward. And secondly, I think the colleagues have already all mentioned the best practices. But best practice is one part of the story. The most important thing is to put up the knowledges, the best practices into real actions. A lot of countries, different countries have their own successful stories. And that's also part of the best practices when they are implementing all those national laws, national regulations, and also national conditions into reality where they could have a better human rights, better rights for economic and social and cultural rights, and of course, better civil and political rights. I think with those two, probably it will at least inspire China to continue move forward where only by protecting people's human rights, political, civil, and also economic, social, and cultural rights, can a more sustained economic development and poverty reduction be fruitful? Thank you.

Thank you very much, and I would agree with my colleague from China in terms of how useful and interesting it is to hear the other experiences. Maybe if I can add from a different perspective is I think when we moved away from the Commission on Human Rights to the Human Rights Council, the idea was to create a body that we actually try and improve human rights in the world, and we don't try to score points from one another, political points. And I think what we see with the Hub, it's exactly what our vision was, is that that is what it needs to do, where we assist each other, we speak about our weaknesses without being defensive about them, our challenges, but we also speak about the successes and we learn from one another. And I think the Hub plays a crucial role in that. And I neglected, actually, my, I felt I was starting to talk a little bit long, but one element I really want to add, and I want to connect with what you said, is the funding. It's really key. And if we look at UNHCR, we look at how little funding human rights gets. And sometimes it's always seen as a very negative, you know, human rights is only about chastising countries about what they're not doing. But this is the example of the positive element of promotion of human rights and how we do it and the important role it plays in our countries. So thank you again for this opportunity and really be assured of our continued support. Thanks.

Thank you very much. Allow me to briefly thank my colleague from Egypt. I will convey those kind words back to this big team of people who for many years have been working on human rights. Thank you, sir. Your comments were also well taken. Let me end by, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, individuals are right holders and states must fulfill their obligation to respect, civil, cultural, economic, political, and social rights. Not ones more than others. They are all equally right, equally important, and equally need to be realized. And we as states cannot shy away from respecting them all and being criticized for not respecting them. That is very important. Thank you.

Thank you very much, everyone. I guess my closing thoughts is that it's very inspiring to be here in different spaces. Civil society keeps hearing that the rights framing is that global North and global South are divided and that we cannot agree. I think today is a testimony that this is not the case and that those who care for advancing equal rights for all are still very much alive and kicking, and I'm really looking forward to taking this spirit forward to Nairobi and to other debt management conversation in the UN. So thank you very much.

Thank you very much to all of you. Let me say that it was a very uplifting, positive, inspiring discussion. It's personally helpful because sometimes my work is a little gloomy these days, so I very much appreciate, I really do appreciate that all that we are doing together on this issue. I think this is what the Knowledge Hub it's about. It's about connecting people and experience and helping turn knowledge into action. So thank you so much to all our wonderful partners. Thank you again.