57th Regular Session of the Human Rights Council Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Right to Development

Mister President,

My Delegation takes note of the Special Rapporteur’s report on the “Right to development of children and future generations”.[1] The Holy See considers that authentic development concerns every person and the whole of the person in every single dimension. The right to development is rooted in the universality, indivisibility, interrelatedness, and interdependence of all human rights. 

States have the primary responsibility for the realisation of this right, which should be underpinned by mutual solidarity, social justice and universal charity. Wherever capacity is lacking, paths of renewed fraternal solidarity and action should be encouraged and pursued.

Mister President, 

It is evident that the right to development has implications for both the present and the future. Pope Francis has often emphasised the need for justice between present and future generations, underlining that it is not possible to speak of development apart from intergenerational solidarity.[2] Such solidarity is “a key moral imperative in responding to the problems of our time”.[3] In thinking about the world we want to leave to those who come after us, it is important to maintain a holistic vision that takes into account, inter alia, the ecological, juridical, political, cultural, but also the moral and spiritual dimensions,[4] since the human person is a unity of body and soul. 

Finally, in considering the Report “Right to development of children and future generations”, my Delegation wishes to express its concern at the proposal to broaden the concept of future generations “to encompass not only human beings but also plants, animals and fungi”.[5] The Holy See has consistently underlined the interconnectedness of human beings with the rest of creation.[6]  However, only human beings are rights holders, not other living organisms,[7] a principle reflected in the UN Charter, the UDHR and many other international instruments. The Holy See wishes to reaffirm that only the human person created in the image and likeness of God, has an absolute inviolable dignity. It is imperative to respect the “grammar” inscribed by the Creator, who has given to humankind the role of steward and caretaker, responsible for creation: a role that the person must not abuse, but also a role that must not be relinquished.[8]

Thank you, Mister President.