Joint submission by CESR; ATD Fourth World; The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Franciscans International to the UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee call for input to a study on the ways in which development contributes to the enjoyment of all human rights by all, in particular on best experiences and practices.
The submission expresses concerns that the resolution and mandate for the study suggested that development always contributes to, or is a prerequisite for, human rights realisation. It maintains that human rights enjoyment should be the ultimate goal of development, and that it is not an inevitable byproduct. Not all development is human rights-aligned, and governments need to make active efforts to ground their development objectives in human rights. There are many examples of development initiatives or programs that have led directly to the violation of human rights and also examples of economically developed countries where human rights are not realized. Therefore, the submission contributors contend that there is no inevitable causal connection between economic development and the realization of human rights. Nevertheless, they also establish States’ human rights treaty obligations are applicable to their development activities and there is significant evidence that rights-respecting development is more sustainable.
Read the full submission here.
