«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
The North-South divide is once again evident in the debates on the draft Convention on the Right to Development. Despite opposition from the West, Southern countries are committed to an instrument that could orient the international order towards greater equity. Following several delays induced by the pandemic, the 21st session of the UN Human Rights […] ECOSOC High-level Segment Agenda item 5 The economic and social policies that have been imposed for several decades in the context of the neoliberal globalisation have led to an increase in poverty and the exacerbation of inequalities. In rural areas, this situation is particularly worrying and the global food crisis is getting worse every year. During the 45th session of the Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur on the right to development presented a report regarding his visit to Switzerland last year (see CETIM’s bulletin No. 60). In it, he expressed concerns regarding the new approach of the Swiss cooperation, a concern in the same vein as already expressed by […] HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL 45th session CETIM and the Movement in Defense of Water, Land and Environmental Protection (MODATIMA), an active movement in defense of the right to water in Chile, collaborated in the framework of the 45th session of the UN Human Rights Council to denounce the violations of the right to water in the […] The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development presented his report on his visit to Switzerland at the 45th session of the Human Rights Council. CETIM intervened during the debate that followed this presentation to express its concerns.
UN legally binding instrument on the right to development underway
Food: a central issue for sustainable development
Swiss cooperation policy takes new direction: concerns of the un expert on development
The systematic violation of the right to water in Chile
UN Special Rapporteur concerned about the new orientation of the Swiss cooperation policy
