The Right to Development as a Human Right: Results of the Global Consultation [on the Realization of the Right to Development as a Human Right]
In this article, Russel Barsh summarizes the conclusions of the Global Consultation on the Realization of the Right to Development. The Global Consultation on the Right to Development as a Human Right was convened in Geneva in January 1990, with some twenty invited experts, representatives of a dozen UN programs and agencies, forty nongovernmental organizations, and more than fifty governments. The report of the Global Consultation concludes that, above all, “the concentration of economic and political power in the most industrialized countries” is an obstacle to development and is “perpetuated by the non democratic decision-making processes of international economic, financial and trade institutions.” The conditions for democratic participation include “a fair distribution of economic and political power among all sectors of national society,” as well as “genuine ownership or control of productive resources such as land, financial capital and technology.” Likewise, relevant factors in evaluating participatory processes include “the representativity and accountability of decision-making bodies, the decentralization of decision-making, public access to information, and responsiveness of decision-makers to public opinion.” To access a copy of this article, please click here.
Barsh, Russel, “The Right to Development as a Human Right: Results of the Global Consultation [on the Realization of the Right to Development as a Human Right],” Human Rights Quarterly Vol. 13 (1991)
A JOINT PROGRAM OF
