Dramatic increase in inequalities within and between countries by UN Intergovernmental Group on Right to Development 12:15pm 7th Nov, 2013   Nov 2013    The Chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Working Group on the Right to Development has warned about the dramatic increase of inequalities within and between countries during the unprecedented current global economic and financial crisis.    The surge in inequalities has brought “countless victims, violating their human rights, and threatening the ecosystem upon which life depends,” said Tamara Kunanayakam, who currently chairs the Working Group charged by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor and report on the promotion and implementation of the right to development.    “We are lacking neither in the means nor in the resources to confront these historical challenges through international cooperation and solidarity. Problems of a global character can only be resolved through collective action,” Ms. Kunanayakam told the UN General Assembly during the presentation of the Working Group’s latest report.    “The question is: Is there the political will to do so?”    If any progress is to be made in the realization of the right to development, then social justice and equality, as well as national and international justice, must be given the prominence they deserve in today’s development discourse.    Ms. Kunanayakam urged Governments worldwide to implement the Declaration on the Right to Development, calling it “an instrument that provides a framework for building a human society based on justice, equality, non-discrimination and solidarity.”    The Working Group was established in 1998 by the then Commission on Human Rights to monitor and review progress made in the promotion and implementation of the right to development in the world.    Read the full report: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session24/Documents/A-HRC-24-37_en.pdf    Development is a human right for All. (OHCHR)    Everyone is “entitled to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realized,” the groundbreaking UN Declaration on the Right to Development proclaimed in 1986 that development is a right that belongs to everyone.    Like all human rights, the right to development belongs to everyone, individually and collectively, with no discrimination and with their participation. The Declaration recognizes the right to self-determination and to full sovereignty over natural wealth and resources.    The pursuit of economic growth is not an end in itself. The right to development puts people at the centre of the development process, which aims to improve “the well-being of the entire population and of all individuals on the basis of their active, free and meaningful participation in development and in the fair distribution” of the resulting benefits.    The year 2011 marked the Declaration’s 25th anniversary. Yet many children, women and men – the very subjects of development – still live in dire need of the fulfilment of their entitlement to a life of dignity, freedom and equal opportunity. This directly affects the realization of a wide range of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.    Widening poverty gaps, food shortages, climate change, economic crises, armed conflicts, rising unemployment, popular unrest, and other pressing challenges confront our world today. The right to development, which embodies the human rights principles of equality, non-discrimination, participation, transparency and accountability as well as international cooperation, can guide our responses to a series of contemporary issues and challenges.    The right to development is not about charity, but enablement and empowerment. The Declaration identifies obstacles to development, empowers individuals and peoples, calls for an enabling environment and good governance at both national and international levels, and enhances accountability of duty bearers - governments, donors and recipients, international organizations, transnational corporations, and civil society.    High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has called on governments and all concerned to seize the opportunity to move beyond political debate and focus on practical steps to implement the Declaration.    “We must end discrimination in the distribution of the benefits of development. We must stop the 500,000 preventable deaths of women in childbirth every year. We must free the millions of children from hunger in a world of plenty. And we must ensure that people can benefit from their country’s natural resources and participate meaningfully in decision-making. These are the kind of issues addressed by the Declaration, which calls for equal opportunity and a just social order,” she said.    “States have the duty to cooperate with each other in ensuring development and eliminating obstacles to development,” says the Declaration. The United Nations Human Rights office services the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Right to Development. The Office seeks to raise awareness, enhance understanding and promote dialogue on the right to development.    http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Development/Pages/DevelopmentIndex.aspx http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/Humanrightsatthecentreofdevelopment.aspx Visit the related web page
	Next (more recent) news item
	Next (older) news item