This volume contains a selection of the edited and in some cases translated papers presented at the first South-South Human Rights Forum held in Beijing. The conference was jointly sponsored by the State Council Information Office and the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The event drew hundreds of participants, mainly scholars and government officials from developing countries and international organizations. Its main theme was “Building a Human Community with a Shared Future”, which built on a proposal launched by President Xi Jinping. The papers are mostly short and often policy-oriented, offering a unique insight into the thinking and planning associated with this South-South exchange and thus a wealth of information of interest to scholars. The topics covered emerge primarily from development-related issues, such as the rights to food, education, health and poverty reduction. Though much of the volume thus focuses on economic and social rights and the right to development, civil and political rights are also discussed in the context of the need for legal guarantees for the exercise of human rights and judicial protection of rights.
