Saudi Human Rights Commission holds panel discussion on linking human rights to development goals

RIYADH: The Saudi Human Rights Commission, in cooperation with the Kingdom’s Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva, held a panel discussion on linking human rights to sustainable development goals (SDGs), Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday.

The panel was part of the Kingdom’s participation in the work of the 45th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review.

Speakers discussed sustainable development goals, the recommendations of the UPR, and the great compatibility between them that necessitates finding effective mechanisms to link them at the implementation, follow-up, and reporting levels.

In her paper during the panel discussion, the chief of Sustainable Development at UN Human Rights Marcella Favretto reviewed the features of the great convergence between SDGs and the recommendations presented to states within the framework of the UPR.

She also reviewed the role of the OHCHR in supporting states to find mechanisms that enable following up on the implementation of SDGs and the recommendations of the UPR at the same time.

Yara Sindi, a representative of the Kingdom’s Ministry of Economy and Planning, discussed Saudi efforts to implement SDGs through a steering committee formed by the ministry.

She explained that the implementation of SDGs and following up on them was part of a plan prepared by the committee.

During her participation, Human Rights Commission Council member Lama Ghazzawi highlighted the measures taken by the commission in following up on the implementation of UPR recommendations and linking them to SDGs in coordination with the Ministry of Economy and Planning.

She said an implementation plan included analyzing recommendations, circulating them to the concerned authorities and then planning, implementing and following up on them. The plan also included the process of linking the recommendations to the goals.

She highlighted examples of human rights reforms achieved in the Kingdom in the context of the UPR and SDGs.