The seminar will explore the way in which human rights law has developed an understanding of the right to development, including through the UN Declaration on the Right to Development [1986]. What does the right to development mean? What does the right to development tell us about the responsibilities and obligations of states and other actors in the context of development, the eradication of poverty and inequality across the world? How does this relate to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights [ICESCR], and other international human rights treaties, and an obligation of 'international assistance and co-operation' [article 2[1] of ICESCR?
The module will also explore what is meant by the 'human rights-based approach to development' and the ways in which the UN system has tried to mainstream human rights throughout its programming work. The human rights-based approach to development entails incorporating human rights into all development policies and projects. International agencies [e.g. the World Bank] and states have adopted poverty reduction as the primary objective of their developmental policy - what does a human rights-based approach to this policy objective look like? What is the difference, if any, between the 'human rights-based approach to development' and the 'right to development’?
In 2015, the international community adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will be the centerpiece of the global development agenda until 2030. One seminar will examine the SDGs and their relationship to human rights. What are their strengths and weaknesses and how do they compare to their predecessors, the Millennium Development Goals?
Further questions which will be discussed include:
- What are the links between global justice and transnational legal responsibilities?
- What is, and what should be, the place of human rights within global actors, such as the World Bank and IMF? Do these institutions have human rights obligations under international law?
- What are the rights of indigenous peoples in the context of development?
- What is the link to distributive justice, redistribution and government budgets for social development?
- What are the rights of women and indigenous peoples in the context of development?
- What are the particular links between development, health and human rights?
- Module Supervisor: Judith Bueno De Mesquita