As the sixth session of the Working Group on the Right to Development opens, Franciscans International welcomes the forthcoming progress on this important issue following the meeting of the High-Level Task Force.
Although frustrations have often characterized negotiations on the right to
development, Franciscans International recognizes the significant contributions
of experts, agency representatives and States during the Task Force in order
to ensure a promising session of the Working Group and infusing the debate
on the right to development with a new focus on implementation.
Mr. Chairman, we would like to thank you for your commitment and leadership
during the High-Level Task Force and throughout the year. We would also like
to thank the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on their support
of the High Level Task Force, their extensive report, and their many activities
with regard to the implementation on the right to development. We have
also been pleased to note that several agencies sent distinguished representatives
who provided significant contributions for the duration of the Task Force.
As a non-governmental organization, our commitment to the Right to development
is manifested in working for and with the most vulnerable and oppressed peoples
- those whose right to development is continually violated. In this regard,
overcoming the obstacles and challenges to the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs), as well as improving Social Impact Assessment, will ultimately lead
to the progressive realization of rights that States are committed to protecting
and promoting - including the right to development.
We welcome the acknowledgement of the MDGs and the Right to Development, as
mutually beneficial and reciprocal concepts that together give greater impetus
to relevant benchmarks toward development and a framework for accountability
to international human rights.
We also support the Task Force's observation that MDGs represent the highest
political commitment of states and recognize Millennium Declaration, in which
States committed themselves to, "spare no effort to promote democracy
and strengthen the rule of law, as well as respect for all internationally
recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to development".
Franciscans International therefore urges the Working Group to give consideration
to the following points:
1. The progress and research of the eight reports of the Independent Expert
and the Report of the High-Level Task Force should continue to be studied in
order to devise ways in which the right to development can be implemented and
operationalized.
2. Franciscans International encourages the Working Group to develop a standard
process of collecting and distributing best practices in development policy and
international cooperation. Best practices should be highlighted which allow
individuals to take ownership of their own development process. Participation,
one of the key principles of the right to development, should continue to be
enshrined and furthered.
3. Franciscans International supports the recommendation of the Task-Force to
develop criteria for monitoring MDG 8 on a global partnership for development,
but would like to stress that assessments of development assistance must not
only reflect a financial level, but also the quality of assistance as demonstrated
through reflecting participation in process and outcome as well as impact sustainability.
4. Although the primary responsibility rests on States to promote, protect and
implement the Right to Development, the principles of transparency, equality,
participation, accountability and non-discrimination must also apply, as a corollary,
to international institutions and frameworks, which lay the broader base for
opportunities for economic expansion and poverty relief. Trade and
multilateral development institutions should continue to demonstrate their commitment
and responsibility to improving the general welfare and incorporating human rights
and the principles of the right to development into policies and assessments
5. Lastly, we encourage the Working Group to examine the necessary empowerment
and participation of women, indigenous and other vulnerable groups in the formulation
of development policy, while reflecting how a denial of the right to development
causes the root problems of global phenomena such as human trafficking, irregular
migration, forced labour and the spread of global disease.
We hope that in this session, the Working Group will effectively remember that
the individual, whose human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent,
should be at the centre of the realization of the right to development and of
any development process.
