UN Special Rapporteur Dr Surya Deva cites status of CDWD in his report on Right to Development

Paul Diwakar, Convener of the Global Forum of Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (GFoD), welcomed a recent report, presented by the UN Special Rapporteur Dr Surya Deva, that extensively cited the Collective for Discrimination Based on Work and Descent (CDWD). Diwakar emphasised that every human being, regardless of their background or occupation, possesses an inherent right to development. “Discrimination based on work and descent not only denied individuals their fundamental rights but also stifled collective progress. True development could only be achieved when all communities were included and empowered to contribute their fullest potential,” he stated.

The report, titled Right to Development of Children and Future Generations, by Dr Surya Deva, thoroughly addressed the challenges faced by communities discriminated based on work and descent (CDWD). These communities, including Dalits in South Asia, Quilombolas in Brazil, and others globally, were marginalised due to their ancestral occupations or caste identities.

Read and download the full report below:

The report underscored that such discrimination remained a global phenomenon, impacting millions of people across Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe.

These communities often endured systemic violence, social exclusion, economic deprivation, and were denied access to essential services such as education, healthcare, and justice. Women and children in these groups faced compounded discrimination, often subjected to gender-based violence, exploitation, and trafficking.

Special Rapporteur Dr Surya Deva highlighted that international legal instruments, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and various UN conventions, had failed to adequately protect these vulnerable populations, despite their foundational emphasis on equality and non-discrimination. The report urged states to take stronger actions to dismantle these deeply ingrained social hierarchies. It called for comprehensive legal reforms, including the explicit prohibition of discrimination based on work and descent in national laws and policies. The Special Rapporteur stressed the need for effective implementation of these laws, noting that even where protections existed, enforcement remained weak.

“…like adults, children are not a homogenous group. Children face different or disproportionate impacts of various policies, programmes and projects concerning development or phenomena such as migration, environmental pollution, climate change and conflicts. A case in point are children trapped in poverty or modern slavery, those who are orphaned, those who suffer discrimination because of their gender identity, those who belong to ethnic minorities or other marginalized groups such as Dalits, Roma, Haratine, burakumin and Quilombolas, those living in rural areas, those who have been left behind by parents migrating for employment, those who are members of Indigenous communities, those experiencing statelessness and those living with a disability,” Dr Surya said, citing a Submission from Global Forum of Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent.

Furthermore, governments were urged to collaborate with civil society organisations and community leaders in designing and implementing programs that provided education, vocational training, and social protection to these communities. The Special Rapporteur also emphasised the importance of ensuring that justice mechanisms were accessible, particularly for women and children who faced violence and exploitation within these communities.

In addressing the international community, Special Rapporteur Dr Surya Deva called for more robust global efforts to combat this form of discrimination. He recommended that the UN and its member states strengthen the monitoring of human rights violations related to work and descent-based discrimination, offering technical and financial support to affected countries. Additionally, the report advocated for increased visibility and representation of these communities in global forums to foster understanding and solidarity. Ultimately, the Special Rapporteur insisted that ending discrimination based on work and descent was crucial to achieving broader goals of social justice and equality worldwide, requiring persistent international pressure, national commitment, and grassroots activism.

Talking about rehabilitation, Dr Surya Deva said, “Rights without effective remedies tend to lose their normative force. While preventing adverse impacts on children’s rights is ideal, prevention is never foolproof. It is concerning that “while millions of children have their rights violated every day, only a fraction are able to come forward and seek redress, and even fewer obtain an effective remedy”. This may be due to a lack of awareness of their rights, various barriers to accessing remedies or an absence of child-friendly remedial institutions.”