Commission on Human Rights resolution 2000/64 The role of good governance in the promotion of human rights

The Commission on Human Rights,

Guided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement of all peoples and all nations applying to every individual and every organ of society, and also the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, which affirmed that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated,
Recognizing the importance of a conducive environment, at both the national and the international levels, for the full enjoyment of all human rights,
Emphasizing that the strengthening of good governance at the national level, including through the building of effective and accountable institutions for promoting growth and sustainable human development, is a continuous process for all Governments regardless of the level of development of the countries concerned,
Noting that good governance practices necessarily vary according to the particular circumstances and needs of different societies, and that the responsibility for determining and implementing such practices, based on transparency and accountability, and for creating and maintaining an enabling environment conducive to the enjoyment of all human rights at the national level, rests with the State concerned,
Affirming the need for enhanced cooperation at the international level between States and through the United Nations system, to ensure that States needing external inputs in order to improve good governance activities have access, if and when required, to the necessary information and resources,
Recognizing the need for a closer examination of the role of good governance for the promotion of human rights and the relationship between good governance practices and the promotion and protection of all human rights in all countries,
1. Recognizes that transparent, responsible, accountable and participatory government, responsive to the needs and aspirations of the people, is the foundation on which good governance rests, and that such a foundation is a sine qua non for the promotion of human rights;
2. Emphasizes, in this context, the need to promote partnership approaches to international development cooperation and to ensure that prescriptive approaches to good governance do not impede such cooperation;
3. Requests the High Commissioner for Human Rights to invite all States to provide practical examples of activities that have been effective in strengthening good governance practices for the promotion of human rights at the national level, including activities in the context of development cooperation between States, for inclusion in a compilation of indicative ideas and practices that could be consulted by the interested States when required;
4. Decides to continue consideration of the question of the role of good governance
in the promotion of human rights at its fifty-seventh session under the same agenda item.

66th meeting
26 April 2000
[Adopted by a roll-call vote of 50 votes to none,
with 2 abstentions.]