Spotlight: China urges related UN agencies to prioritize "right to development"

China's Special Representative for Human Rights Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Liu Hua urged UN agencies on Wednesday here to give priority to the right to development.

"Threats of wars and external aggression should be avoided. The unjust and inequitable international political and economic order should be reformed," Liu said in a statement to a panel as part of the 32nd session of the ongoing Human Rights Council.

Speaking on behalf of 31 like-minded states and 30 years after the Declaration on the Right to Development was adopted, Liu stressed that international cooperation should form the backbone of forward-thinking policies supporting the unassailable right.

This is particularly relevant for developed countries whose duty should be to assist nations striving to enhance economic, social, cultural and political development, she added.

"Developed countries should fulfill their international obligations, by providing financial, technical and capacity building support to developing and least developed countries," she noted, adding that all countries should embrace a new spirit of shared destiny for all and build a new type of international relations based on win-win cooperation.

Liu reminded that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by the international community last year, is closely linked to the right to development.

She also highlighted that UN human rights instruments are central to efforts seeking to implement the declaration's objectives.

"UN human rights mechanisms should take as its priority the promotion and protection of the implementation of the right to development, promote effective work by the UN system in mainstreaming the right to development, so as to enhance balanced and sustainable development of all people," she said. Endit