General Statement by India at Sixth Session of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development, under Item 3 : General Debate, delivered by Mr. S. Senthil Kumar, First Secretary on Geneva, 31 October 2022

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

1. India is one of the strong proponents of the Right to Development. We had supported the HRC Resolution 42/23 which established the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development.

2. We firmly believe that the Expert Mechanism has an important mandate of providing the Council with thematic expertise on the Right to Development in searching, identifying and sharing best practices with Member States and to promote the implementation of the Right to Development worldwide.

3. We take note of the thematic studies undertaken by the Expert Mechanism and look forward to the study on the theme ‘inequalities and the right to development’. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the existing poverty and inequalities, affecting people in the most vulnerable situations. We underline that implementation of the Right to Development can play an important role in recovery from the pandemic, in realization of SDGs and building back better.

4. India is firmly committed to social, economic and political equality to our people through well-designed multi-sectoral interventions. The Indian Constitution and the wide range of existing laws and policy frameworks provide a sound armoury to reduce inequality in its various forms and meet the challenges with respect to different targets associated with Goal 10 (on reducing inequalities). We are systematically and coherently assessing the progress towards implementing SDGs 10 and 5 (gender equality) and other targets related to progressing towards equality and reporting in our voluntary national reviews.

5. We appreciate the members of the Expert Mechanism for their support in providing expertise to elaborate the legally binding instrument on the Right to Development.

6. We reiterate our firm support to the regular interaction among the Expert Mechanism, the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development and the Working Group on the Right to Development as to achieve synergy in their work.

7. In conclusion, we firmly resolve our commitment to the promotion and implementation of the Right to Development and looking forward to discussions this week.

I thank you Chair.

****