«Il n‘y a pas un monde développé et un monde sous-développé, mais un seul monde mal développé»
The Covid 19 pandemic has increased inequalities within countries as well as spectacular inequalities between the so-called developed countries and third world countries.
According to Oxfam, the world’s richest 1% have twice as much wealth as 6.9 billion people
This catastrophic increase in poverty, therefore, makes imperative the implementation and promotion of the right to development.
What is it ? Which right and which development are we referring to?
The Declaration on the Right to Development (DRD) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1986. It results from efforts of the Non Aligned Movement to establish a fairer and more equitable New International Economic Order. The DRD opposes the dominant ideology in which economic growth is the primary objective of development.
On the contrary, the DRD asserts that the human person – individually and above all, collectively – is at the heart of all activity not only economic but also social, political and cultural. In this sense, it must be the central subject and not merely the object, of a development process that is based on people’s active, free and meaningful participation.
The objective of the Right to Development is to achieve self-determination and sovereignty of peoples regarding their choice of development model, in a spirit of equality and mutual respect. The Right to Development also implies that the benefits of development be distributed equitably. The DRD postulates that all States, individually and collectively, adopt as a priority, the realization of all human rights (civil, political, economic, social and cultural). After tough negotiations over the wording of the text, a number of powerful Northern states tried to scrap it, to soften it and even to misrepresent its content. Constantly attacked by these states, the DRD has never been implemented. It directly opposes current political policies, in particular those of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization, the G7 and NATO. The policies of these institutions run counter to the aspirations of peoples of the South to autonomy and self-reliant development.
Nevertheless, thanks to the perseverance of many countries of the Non Aligned Movement (which today includes more than 120 states) and China, a process to develop a draft Convention on the Right to Development has been initiated recently at the United Nations. The aim is to make the Right to Development “operational”. In May 2023, the intergovernmental working group of the Human Rights Council on the Right to Development will consider the last draft of the Convention and its commentaries. CETIM actively participated in the discussions. Indeed, for more than two decades, our association has regularly intervened at the UN and follows developments closely in order to ensure that the Right to Development is not forgotten or diverted from its purpose. It also watches closely to make sure that its implementation is not systematically obstructed but on the contrary, is properly supported and promoted.
CETIM publications related to the right to development(other publications are only available in French here)
The Intergovernmental Open-ended Working Group on the Right to Development
Special Rapporteur on the right to development
Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL 54th session In his annual report, the Special Rapporteur on the right to development confuses development, which is necessarily a process, with the right to development, which is a right as defined in article 1 of the Declaration. Read the statement HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL 54th session The future convention on the right to development is clearly not a compromise that will satisfy everyone. However, it is an instrument that we believe will contribute to the establishment of a democratic and equitable international order, to the establishment of international cooperation in good faith and to the practical […] Working Group on the Right to Development 24th session We are living through a historic moment. On the one hand, the multidimensional crisis is growing throughout the world, and with it, inequalities, environmental degradation and massive violations of human rights. On the other hand, we have enough capacity and means to respond to such crises, […] From 15 to 19 May 2023, the 24th session of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Right to Development was held in Geneva to examine the second revised draft convention on this right. The CETIM took an active part in the debates. During the negotiations on the new version of the draft convention, we observed […] Geneva, May 31st – From 15 to 19 May 2023, the 24th session of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Right to Development was held in Geneva to examine the second revised draft convention on this right. The CETIM took an active part in the debates.
Consideration of the annual report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to development
Review of the reports of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Right to Development
Future Covenant on the right to development
The Convention on the Right to Development on the right track
The Convention on the Right to Development on the right track
