Right to development |

Inequalities within countries and between so-called developed and developing countries continue to grow. According to the Global Inequality Report 2022 : “The richest 10% of the world’s population earn 52% of global income, while the poorest half earn only 8%. And an individual in the top 10% of income earns an average of 87,200 euros a year, while those in the bottom 50% earn 2,800 euros. Inequalities in wealth are even more pronounced than in income. The poorest half of the world’s population has virtually no wealth, owning just 2% of the total. Conversely, the richest 10% own 76% of it “.¹

In fact, the catastrophic spread of these inequalities and consequent poverty on a global scale makes it imperative to implement and promote the right to development.

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 October 2023, the UN Human Rights Council on the right to development adopted the latest version of the draft Covenant (the term finally chosen instead of Convention). This text should shortly be ratified by the UN General Assembly. CETIM made an active contribution to the debates on this issue.

Indeed, for more than two decades, our association has been working within the UN to ensure that the right to development is not forgotten. We are vigilant to ensure that the content of the future Covenant on this right is not distorted. We are also making sure that its implementation is no longer systematically hindered but, on the contrary, given a real boost.

For a genuine poverty reduction policy

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL 56th session 18 June – 12 July 2024 For a genuine human rights-based poverty reduction policy, the structural foundations of the dominant economic, social, financial and trade system must be addressed. Read the CETIM’s oral statement in French Watch the video subtitled in English

Right to development and rights of peasants to combat climate crisis

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL 56th session July 2024 [Excerpt of the declaration] Despite being key protectors of biodiversity and promoters of agricultural practices that safeguard environmental equilibriums, peasants and rural communities face severe impacts from the climate crisis. This paradox threatens their ability to meet basic needs, exacerbated by the agribusiness sector causing environmental degradation and […]

At the Nairobi Conference, the lobbies have the floor

The United Nations Summit of the Future will be held in New York next September with the goal of “reinforcing cooperation” and “bridging the gaps in world governance”. To prepare and support this summit, the United Nations convened a civil society conference on the 9th and 10th of last May in Nairobi (Kenya). Participating in […]

Beware the Corporate Multistakeholder Strategy in Civil Society Clothin

Open Letter Beware the Corporate Multistakeholder Strategy in Civil Society Clothin Instead of strengthening civil society and social movement voices, the Nairobi Civil Society Conference in support of the Summit for the Future aims at bringing back to the agenda corporate-led global governance. The 2024 UN Civil Society Conference in Support of the Summit of […]

Maldevelopment: claims and proposals for breaking with it

A first draft for a roadmap by and for social movements This didactic booklet presents the demands and proposals of social movements and other grassroots organisations in different countries for a way out of the current multidimensional crisis (economic, health, climate, social, political, etc.). Gathered during the first worldwide confinements linked to Covid-19, many of […]

Right to development

For a genuine poverty reduction policy

Right to development and rights of peasants to combat climate crisis

Beware the Corporate Multistakeholder Strategy in Civil Society Clothin

Maldevelopment: claims and proposals for breaking with it

Lendemains solidaires – digital magazine

Calendar