Right to Development

Through the United Nations Charter, Member States undertook to "promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom" and "to achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion."

The Universal Declaration on Human Rights contains a number of elements that became central to the international community's understanding of the right to development. It attaches importance, for example, to the promotion of social progress and better standards of life and recognizes the right to non-discrimination, the right to participate in public affairs and the right to an adequate standard of living. It also contains everyone's entitlement to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in the Declaration can be fully realized.

An important step towards the recognition of the right to development was UN General Assembly resolution 1161 (XII). In this resolution, the General Assembly expressed the view "that a balanced and integrated economic and social development would contribute towards the promotion and maintenance of peace and security, social progress and better standards of living, and the observance of and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms."

This theme was taken up at the International Conference on Human Rights, held in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, from 22 April to 13 May 1968. The Conference expressed its belief "that the enjoyment of economic and social rights is inherently linked with any meaningful and profound interconnection between the realization of human rights and economic development." It recognized "the collective responsibility of the international community to ensure the attainment of the minimum standard of living necessary for the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons throughout the world."

In 1969, the General Assembly, in its resolution 2542 (XXIV), adopted the Declaration on Social Progress and Development, which states that "social progress and development shall aim at the continuous raising of the material and spiritual standards of living of all members of society, with respect for and in compliance with human rights and fundamental freedoms."

In its resolution) of 21 February 1977, the decided to pay special attention to consideration of the obstacles impeding the full realization of economic, social and cultural rights, particularly in developing countries, and of national and international action to secure the enjoyment of those rights. Recognizing the right to development as a human right, the Commission requested the UN Secretary-General to undertake a study on "the international dimensions of the right to development as a human right in relation with other human rights based on international cooperation, including the right to peace, taking into account the requirements of the New International Economic Order and fundamental human needs." The study was submitted and considered by the Commission on Human Rights at its thirty-fifth session in 1979.

The Commission subsequently, by its resolution 36 of 11 March 1981, established a working group of 15 governmental experts to study the scope and contents of the right to development and the most effective means to ensure the realization, in all countries, of the economic, social and cultural rights enshrined in various international instruments, paying particular attention to the obstacles encountered by developing countries in their efforts to secure the enjoyment of human rights. It also requested the Working Group to submit a report with concrete proposals for implementation of the right to development and for a draft international instrument on this subject.