25 November 2014: The UN General Assembly (UNGA) Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural) concluded its work for the 69th session, sending 60 draft resolutions to the UNGA for adoption in plenary. Many of the texts deal with social development issues, and refer to the post-2015 development agenda in areas of human rights, women and girls, children, persons with disabilities, and the follow-up to international conferences.

Draft resolutions on issues of human rights highlight the intersection of rights and development. The Committee approved resolutions affirming: the right to privacy in the digital age; the promotion of peace as a requirement for the realization of human rights by all; the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, and development assistance; the rights of migrants; the human right to food; migrant children and adolescents; the impacts of globalization on human rights; international cooperation in the field of human rights; and human rights in the administration of justice. Draft resolutions on the work of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) were also approved, after intense debate on these issues in the Committee.

Also approved by a vote of the Committee (148 in favor, 4 against, and 27 abstentions) was a draft resolution on the right to development, which stresses the need for acceptance and operationalization of the right to development at the national and international levels, as well as the need to prevent corruption through an agreed legal framework.

Other draft resolutions reaffirm the rights of women and girls, with one defining “violence against women” as any gender-based violence that results in harm to women or girls. An approved draft resolution on child, early and forced marriage urges governments to promote and protect the human rights of all women and girls. Another resolution focuses on ending “honor killings.”

A resolution on the realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for persons with disabilities was approved without a vote, and recognizes the need for considering the rights of persons with disabilities in the post-2015 development agenda.

A resolution on the ‘Promotion and protection of the rights of children’ also looks toward post-2015, underlining the importance of children’s well-being in the future development agenda.

The Committee reviewed the follow-up to several international conferences including the Second World Assembly on Ageing, the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing), and the World Summit for Social Development (WSSD). [Third Committee Press Release 25/11] [Third Committee Press Release 24/11] [Third Committee Press Release 21/11] [Third Committee Press Release 19/11] [Third Committee Press Release 17/11] [Third Committee Status of Action on Draft Proposals]