Statement by Louise Arbour UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to the Working Group on the Right to Development

Geneva, 15 February 2005

Palais des Nations Room XVII


Chairperson Ambassador Salama,
Distinguished delegates and dear colleagues,


Allow me first of all to thank you for giving me the opportunity to meet and address you today. It was my intention to participate in the opening of your session, but could not do so due to my late arrival from a mission to Russia. My report on the activities of the Office in support of the mandate on the right to development is before you. This being my first address to the Working Group, I would, however, like to speak on some general issues that I am sure will echo your own preoccupations.

Some recent international events and your own discussions in this forum have been very encouraging in making progress on the implementation of the right to development. I see signs of purposive engagement and a gradual convergence of positions among the various actors – the member-States, international institutions and civil society - on different aspects of development of relevance to the implementation of this right. I see this in the global consensus articulated in the Millennium Declaration, the Monterrey Consensus of the International Conference on Financing for Development and in your own recent work. These are critical steps in making the current process of globalisation work towards improving the well-being of people, in every corner of the world.

The concept of development has become more robust in recent times. It has evolved from material attainments and economic growth to a broad based notion of human development. There is also a recognition that human rights and human development share a common purpose: to secure the freedom, well-being and dignity of all people everywhere.

Poverty often results from wilful neglect and discrimination. Lack of adequate development or development that permits exclusion and discrimination in access to and allocation of resources paves the way to increased inequality and marginalisation of the poor and the vulnerable. It denies them their human rights. Economic and social inequalities create differences in access to political power, access to justice and access to basic goods and services, all of which are essential for the full realisation of human rights. A powerful message comes from the World Bank’s Voices of the Poor study: it reiterates that if the poor and the vulnerable lack voices and power to influence decisions that concern them directly, they are denied the ability to claim their rights.

States sensitive to addressing these concerns have evolved development strategies based on social mobilisation and participation that have been successful in progressively realising human rights and reducing inequalities and social exclusion. We saw elements of this approach in the development experience of Costa Rica that was presented at the meeting of the high- level task force on the right to development. Of course initiatives will always reflect local circumstances, but they should all seek the right combination of development policies and programmes.

The process of development must strive to realise all human rights entitlements of all rights holders. This is particularly relevant for the poor and the marginalised. For them it is necessary that the development process move away from a needs-based exercise in charity and assistance to one that creates and sustains genuine entitlements that span all aspects of their life- economic, social and cultural, as well as the civil and political. The recognition of the interdependence and indivisibility of these various facets of life for the overall well-being of individuals is critical for the development process to become meaningful and effective. It compels us to speak of one set of rights, with all its due consequences. The Declaration on the Right to Development gives us a powerful manifestation that “every human person and all peoples are entitled to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be realized”.

Development with social justice cannot be achieved in the absence of respect for human rights. Indeed, the process of empowering people to exercise their choices and freedoms has to be anchored in the human rights framework. While human rights standards and principles have to provide the parameters for the articulation and the conduct of the development policies and programmes, the process has to be anchored in enforceable human rights and the relevant political, legislative and administrative institutions to ensure that the benefits of this process will reach the poorest and the most vulnerable.

The possibility for people themselves to claim their rights through legal processes is essential so that human rights have a meaning for those most at the margins, a vindication of their equal worth and human agency. International human right law emphasizes judicial remedies for violations of rights, though administrative remedies can also be acceptable if they are "timely, accessible, affordable and effective". Potentially, all human rights have justiciable elements. Effective judicial enforcement depends more on courts being granted the authority to hear claims, than on the inherent nature of the rights. Similarly, litigation and examination of individual and group petitions at the international level can both help to develop understanding of the substantive content of international norms and lead to real change for individuals by helping them to take charge of their lives. Recent civil society initiatives in developing countries like Brazil, India and South Africa have demonstrated how judicial remedies can contribute to the realisation of economic-social and cultural rights.

All human rights must be given effect at the national level. The States have the primary responsibility for economic and social development and the role of national policies and development strategies cannot be overemphasized. There has to be an enabling environment - legal, political, economic and social- sensitive and reflective of the local context for the realization of the right to development. The creation of such an environment hinges critically on the respective motivations of States –individually and collectively - to apply, observe and adjudicate, in the process of development, the human rights standards and the principles of participation, accountability, non-discrimination, equality, empowerment and cooperation.

At the same time, development is also a matter of collective responsibility demanding international cooperation and constructive global partnerships. The international community has the responsibility to create a conducive international environment for the realization of the right to development. It has also to come to address the plight of those for whom the right to development would remain a meaningless rhetoric but for international support. The principles designed to guide national development initiatives have to inform and inspire the international efforts to “make the right to development a reality for all”.

The moral and ethical motivations of collective responsibility on development, and even on humanitarian issues, are not always translated into firm commitments or concrete actions. This has undermined the credibility of the international community in the eyes of those who must rely on international support. The recent international response to the Tsunami disaster has been a display of swift practical solidarity in times of crisis, but can we say the same, for instance, of the global commitment and efforts to scale-up the treatment and care programmes for Malaria, Tuberculosis and HIV and AIDS?. We must ensure that collective action based on genuine partnerships and cooperation is mobilised to overcome development challenges and create the necessary conditions for effective and sustainable local action.

I would like to encourage you to continue to reflect on these issues and to find practical ways, based on your respective experiences, to address them so that we can make progress on the implementation of the right to development. At this juncture as we enter the five-year review of the Millennium Declaration, this Working Group, as the pre-eminent inter-governmental forum deliberating on issues of human rights and development, has an important role to play in identifying and addressing strategies that could make the attainment of the MDGs a reality and thereby contribute to the realisation of the right to development. In this task I pledge the full support of my Office.

I look forward very much to your conclusions and recommendations.