tions and meetings, to criticize and oppose, to publish political material, to campaign for election and to advertise political ideas.”9 Important aspects of the right to be consulted are highlighted in human rights-based approaches to development. The principal elements of the human rights-based approaches have been indicated in a statement of a common position of all the United Nations agencies engaged in human development.10 While emphasizing that the participation and inclusion of rights-holders in decisions and processes that affect them are unavoidable as a matter of human rights law, this statement also recalls that the design and implementation of such processes must respect and promote the fundamental dignity of every human being, based on the principles of equality and non-discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, gender, language, religion, opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. It is important to keep in mind the converse right to that of consultation: the right of the individual not to participate in consultations if that is what he or she chooses. This negatively expressed right can be derived from the manner in which international human rights law protects a person’s privacy (see, for instance, article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights). 9 General comment 25 (1996), para. 25. 10 Report of the second interagency workshop on implementing a human rights-based approach in the context of United Nations reform, Stamford, Connecticut, 5-7 May 2003. See OHCHR, Frequently Asked Questions on a Human Rights-based Approach to Development Cooperation (2006), annex II. 5