Human Rights, Equity and Development

1
Human Rights, Equity and Development

• Report from a workshopat the University of Oslo,
  Norway
  
• 11-12 October 2004
• Discussion organized by
• The Social Analysis Thematic Group
• and
• The Empowerment Community of Practice
• 16 December 2004

2
Oslo Workshop

• Organized by University of Oslos Centre for
  Human Rights, and Centre for Development and the
  Environment, October workshop, supported by
  Government of Norway
• Objectives
• Explore rights based approaches to development
  and their relationship to equity
  
• Provide inputs to WDR 2006 on equity
• Suggest future research and collaboration on
  human rights
  
• Participation by human rights and development
  specialists
  
• Researchers, from Europe, North America, Asia
• Government representatives from Norway, Finland,
  Sweden, Denmark
  
• World Bank participation Legal, Social
  Development, PREM, WDR team

3
Oslo Workshop Sessions

• Conceptual Frameworks
• Legal Perspectives
• Sectoral Implications Right to Health
• Womens Rights
• Participation, Empowerment, Accountability
• Implications for the WDR 2006
• Rights at Country Level and the Role of IFIs
• Recommendations for Follow-up Research and
  Collaboration
  

4
Key Recommendations

• Improve sharing and learning from different
  experiences
  
• e.g. Scandinavia
• Consider ways to strengthen a human rights agenda
  in the World Bank
  
• but cautions against new bureaucratic
  requirements
  
• Improve quality of measurement and impact
  analysis
  
• e.g. work on empowerment indicators
• Strengthen knowledge base on experiences with
  rights based approaches
  
• e.g. country experience and strengthening of
  local institutions particular focus on PRSPs
  

5
Background

• Interest in strengthening understanding and
  attention to human rights in the Banks work
  
• Recognition that there is considerable overlap
  between the Banks work and human rights
  standards
  
• Ongoing engagement and activities, e.g.
• Senior advisor in MDs office
• Working group convened by ESSD VP
• Discussions between the Bank and different
  governments including Scandinavians
  
• Network activities PREM, SDV, others
• World Summit for Social Development and Bank
  participation
  
• March workshop jointly with DFID on Power, Rights
  and Poverty
  

6
Challenges

• Lack of clarity and agreement globally on what is
  meant by a rights-based approach to development
  
• Perception that human rights leave little room
  for the tradeoffs or incremental progress we know
  from development practice
  
• Concern that this may impose standards that
  cannot be complied with
  
• Confusion over rights to opportunities versus
  rights to outcomes
  
• Concern that this may be seen as political
  interference contrary to the Banks Articles of
  Agreement
  
• Should the Bank formally adopt human rights
  standards or policies if so, which?

7
Human Rights Background and concepts

• UN Charter, international legally binding treaty
• 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Equality and non-discrimination
• Civil and political rights
• Economic, social and cultural rights
• 1976 passing of International Bill on Human
  Rights
  
• Various conventions and agreements, e.g.
• 1979 CEDAW
• 1989 Rights of the Child
• 2003 Migrants Rights (ratified by 22 countries,
  all developing)
  
• 1993 Vienna principle all human rights are
  universal, indivisible, interdependent, and
  interrelated
  
• Definitions of rights
• Legitimate claims that give rise to correlative
  obligations or duties
  
• Requires presence of power or authority confer
  legitimacy on claims made
  
• Various rights and rights regimes
• Universal human rights and international
  covenants
  
• Individual and group rights
• National legislation
• Customary and religious law

8
The Right to Development

• Many issues still to be resolved, and lack of
  consensus, cf. Sfeir-Younis, 2003
  
• Development compact?
• Process or outcomes?
• How to make rights operational and
  implementable?
  
• Monitoring mechanisms?
• Many development agencies have explicitly adopted
  rights-based approaches, both bilaterals such as
  DFID, SIDA, and NORAD, and UN agencies such as
  UNICEF and WHO.
• Emerging principles
• Empowerment of poor people as agents and rights
  holders, not as recipients or beneficiaries of
  welfare
  
• Links to international human rights
• Focus on accountability of states and other
  development agencies
  
• Strengthening peoples participation
• Equality and non-discrimination
• Special attention to poor and vulnerable groups

9
UN Rapporteur onthe Right to Development

• 2002 Report to the UN Commission on Human Rights
• Importance of economic growth rights-based
  economic growth with equity and justice
  
• Suggests reconciliation of competing concerns
• Economic, social, cultural rights
• Civil and political rights
• Argues for obligations both of developing
  countries and the international community
  
• Key principles
• Participation
• Accountability
• Transparency
• Equity
• Non-discrimination
• Suggested requirements
• Realization of human rights and fundamental
  freedoms as the central aim
  
• Independent rights-based mechanism to monitor the
  performances of all countries
  

10
Different philosophies?
11
Towards Convergence?A Social Development
Perspective

• GOALS
• People-centered development
• Equity
• Integration of economic, cultural, social
  polices
  
• Transparent and accountable governance
• Democracy, justice, tolerance, respect for
  diversity
  
• Protect and support the disadvantaged and
  vulnerable