Linkages between Human Rights and SDGs

The OHCHR has emphasised the importance of integrating human rights to define the SDGs and has made efforts to ensure that strategies and policies to implement the 2030 Agenda are human rights-based. 


As part of its efforts, the OHCHR mapped linkages between the SDGs and fourteen international human rights instruments - ① Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR), ② International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), ③International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ④International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), ⑤International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), ⑥Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), ⑦Declaration on the Right to Development (UNDRTD), ⑧Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), ⑨International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (CMW),  ⑩Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (DEVAW), ⑪Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Conflict (OP-1), ⑫Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), ⑬International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances (ICPEP) and ⑭Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). 


This section includes the relevant rights to each of the goals, though the listing of relevant rights is not exhaustive.

SDG 11


Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

UDHR art. 25    

  • (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
  • (2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.


ICESCR art. 11    

  • 1. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. The States Parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right, recognizing to this effect the essential importance of international cooperation based on free consent.
  • 2. The States Parties to the present Covenant, recognizing the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger, shall take, individually and through international co-operation, the measures, including specific programmes, which are needed:
    • (a) To improve methods of production, conservation and distribution of food by making full use of technical and scientific knowledge, by disseminating knowledge of the principles of nutrition and by developing or reforming agrarian systems in such a way as to achieve the most efficient development and utilization of natural resources;
    • (b) Taking into account the problems of both food-importing and food-exporting countries, to ensure an equitable distribution of world food supplies in relation to need.

UDHR art. 25    

  • (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
  • (2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.


ICESCR art. 15    

  • 1. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone:
    • (a) To take part in cultural life;
    • (b) To enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications;
    • (c) To benefit from the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.
  • 2. The steps to be taken by the States Parties to the present Covenant to achieve the full realization of this right shall include those necessary for the conservation, the development and the diffusion of science and culture. 
  • 3. The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to respect the freedom indispensable for scientific research and creative activity.
  • 4. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the benefits to be derived from the encouragement and development of international contacts and co-operation in the scientific and cultural fields.


ICERD art. 5    

In compliance with the fundamental obligations laid down in article 2 of this Convention, States Parties undertake to prohibit and to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law, notably in the enjoyment of the following rights:

  • (a) The right to equal treatment before the tribunals and all other organs administering justice;
  • (b) The right to security of person and protection by the State against violence or bodily harm, whether inflicted by government officials or by any individual group or institution;
  • (c) Political rights, in particular the right to participate in elections-to vote and to stand for election-on the basis of universal and equal suffrage, to take part in the Government as well as in the conduct of public affairs at any level and to have equal access to public service;
  • (d) Other civil rights, in particular:
  • (i) The right to freedom of movement and residence within the border of the State;
  • (ii) The right to leave any country, including one's own, and to return to one's country;
  • (iii) The right to nationality;
  • (iv) The right to marriage and choice of spouse;
  • (v) The right to own property alone as well as in association with others;
  • (vi) The right to inherit;
  • (vii) The right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion;
  • (viii) The right to freedom of opinion and expression;
  • (ix) The right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association;
  • (e) Economic, social and cultural rights, in particular:
  • (i) The rights to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work, to protection against unemployment, to equal pay for equal work, to just and favourable remuneration;
  • (ii) The right to form and join trade unions;
  • (iii) The right to housing;
  • (iv) The right to public health, medical care, social security and social services;
  • (v) The right to education and training;
  • (vi) The right to equal participation in cultural activities;
  • (f) The right of access to any place or service intended for use by the general public, such as transport hotels, restaurants, cafes, theatres and parks.


ICERD art. 7    

States Parties undertake to adopt immediate and effective measures, particularly in the fields of teaching, education, culture and information, with a view to combating prejudices which lead to racial discrimination and to promoting understanding, tolerance and friendship among nations and racial or ethnical groups, as well as to propagating the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and this Convention.


CRPD art. 30    

Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport

  • 1. States Parties recognize the right of persons with disabilities to take part on an equal basis with others in cultural life, and shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that persons with disabilities:
    • (a) Enjoy access to cultural materials in accessible formats;
    • (b) Enjoy access to television programmes, films, theatre and other cultural activities, in accessible formats;
    • (c) Enjoy access to places for cultural performances or services, such as theatres, museums, cinemas, libraries and tourism services, and, as far as possible, enjoy access to monuments and sites of national cultural importance.
  • 2. States Parties shall take appropriate measures to enable persons with disabilities to have the opportunity to develop and utilize their creative, artistic and intellectual potential, not only for their own benefit, but also for the enrichment of society.
  • 3. States Parties shall take all appropriate steps, in accordance with international law, to ensure that laws protecting intellectual property rights do not constitute an unreasonable or discriminatory barrier to access by persons with disabilities to cultural materials.
  • 4. Persons with disabilities shall be entitled, on an equal basis with others, to recognition and support of their specific cultural and linguistic identity, including sign languages and deaf culture.
  • 5. With a view to enabling persons with disabilities to participate on an equal basis with others in recreational, leisure and sporting activities, States Parties shall take appropriate measures:
    • (a) To encourage and promote the participation, to the fullest extent possible, of persons with disabilities in mainstream sporting activities at all levels;
    • (b) To ensure that persons with disabilities have an opportunity to organize, develop and participate in disability-specific sporting and recreational activities and, to this end, encourage the provision, on an equal basis with others, of appropriate instruction, training and resources;
    • (c) To ensure that persons with disabilities have access to sporting, recreational and tourism venues;
    • (d) To ensure that children with disabilities have equal access with other children to participation in play, recreation and leisure and sporting activities, including those activities in the school system;
    • (e) To ensure that persons with disabilities have access to services from those involved in the organization of recreational, tourism, leisure and sporting activities.


CRC art. 31    

  • 1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts.
  • 2. States Parties shall respect and promote the right of the child to participate fully in cultural and artistic life and shall encourage the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure activity.

CRPD art. 9(1)    

(Accessibility of transportation, facilities and services particularly of persons with disabilities)

To enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life, States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure to persons with disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems, and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas. These measures, which shall include the identification and elimination of obstacles and barriers to accessibility, shall apply to, inter alia:

  • (a) Buildings, roads, transportation and other indoor and outdoor facilities, including schools, housing, medical facilities and workplaces;
  • (b) Information, communications and other services, including electronic services and emergency services.


CRC art. 23    

(Accessibility of transportation, facilities and services particularly of children)

  • 1. States Parties recognize that a mentally or physically disabled child should enjoy a full and decent life, in conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance and facilitate the child's active participation in the community.
  • 2. States Parties recognize the right of the disabled child to special care and shall encourage and ensure the extension, subject to available resources, to the eligible child and those responsible for his or her care, of assistance for which application is made and which is appropriate to the child's condition and to the circumstances of the parents or others caring for the child.
  • 3. Recognizing the special needs of a disabled child, assistance extended in accordance with paragraph 2 of the present article shall be provided free of charge, whenever possible, taking into account the financial resources of the parents or others caring for the child, and shall be designed to ensure that the disabled child has effective access to and receives education, training, health care services, rehabilitation services, preparation for employment and recreation opportunities in a manner conducive to the child's achieving the fullest possible social integration and individual development, including his or her cultural and spiritual development
  • 4. States Parties shall promote, in the spirit of international cooperation, the exchange of appropriate information in the field of preventive health care and of medical, psychological and functional treatment of disabled children, including dissemination of and access to information concerning methods of rehabilitation, education and vocational services, with the aim of enabling States Parties to improve their capabilities and skills and to widen their experience in these areas. In this regard, particular account shall be taken of the needs of developing countries.


CEDAW art. 14(2)    

(Accessibility of transportation, facilities and services particularly of rural women)

States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in rural areas in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, that they participate in and benefit from rural development and, in particular, shall ensure to such women the right:

  • (a) To participate in the elaboration and implementation of development planning at all levels;
  • (b) To have access to adequate health care facilities, including information, counselling and services in family planning;
  • (c) To benefit directly from social security programmes;
  • (d) To obtain all types of training and education, formal and non-formal, including that relating to functional literacy, as well as, inter alia, the benefit of all community and extension services, in order to increase their technical proficiency;
  • (e) To organize self-help groups and co-operatives in order to obtain equal access to economic opportunities through employment or self employment;
  • (f) To participate in all community activities;
  • (g) To have access to agricultural credit and loans, marketing facilities, appropriate technology and equal treatment in land and agrarian reform as well as in land resettlement schemes;
  • (h) To enjoy adequate living conditions, particularly in relation to housing, sanitation, electricity and water supply, transport and communications.

CRPD art. 11    

Situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies

States Parties shall take, in accordance with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, all necessary measures to ensure the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations of risk, including situations of armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies and the occurrence of natural disasters.

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