This certificate course offered by the Human Rights Center of the University for Peace introduces participants to the major themes and debates concerning the relationship between human rights and development. The course begins with an examination of the different conceptions of ‘development’, including its evolution in theory, policy and practice, and its linkages with human rights. Participants analyze the concept of human right to development, which treats development itself as a human right and not just a process which leads to improvement in human rights. The doctrinal and policy implications of adopting a ‘human rights based approach to development’, and the related ‘right to development approach’, are discussed along with what such approaches mean, and what are the tools to implement them in the field. Participants will also explore the new streams of critique that have enabled a confluence as well as a questioning of the human rights-development linkages. These include a critical analysis of the successes and failures of the UN Millennium Development Goals from a human rights perspective, and the implications for the new post-2015 Sustainability Development Goals. The role of strategic litigation in achieving the right to development, whether using that terminology or not, is then looked at with the help of case studies from around the world. Impacts of big projects on indigenous communities is specifically inquired into. In the latter part of the course, selected current issues in the human rights-development interface that are salient from a policy perspective will be examined, including the role of trade, finance, investment, development aid, and aid for trade.
The course is designed both as a stand-alone specialized course on the linkages between Development and Human Rights, but also as a foundation course of the Diploma in Sustainable Development and Human Rights.
- Professor: Mihir Kanade
- Professor: Aurore Menard
- Professor: Jose Riera Cezanne