Statement: Ambassador Wayne McCook

The Right to Development is an inalienable human right by virtue of which every human person and all peoples collectively, are entitled to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, through which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realized.

The human right to development also implies the full realization of the right of peoples to self-determination, which includes, subject to the relevant provisions of both International Covenants on Human Rights, the exercise of their inalienable right to full sovereignty over all their natural wealth and resources.

The ICESCR reminds us that these rights derive from the inherent dignity of the human person, recognizing that, in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ideal of free human beings enjoying freedom from fear and want can only be achieved if conditions are created whereby everyone may enjoy her economic, social and cultural rights, as well as her civil and political rights.

As Human Beings to what are we entitled? With what do we survive and through what can we be free to live in dignity as individuals and in the community?

Should the rights we agree be limited to the ability to breathe, to speak, to listen and to move freely or is there more?

Should we, collectively, agree that all human beings have a right to more than survival or simply being alive?

Yes we have! We have agreed a body of globally accepted rights encompassing civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights in instruments that lay a foundation on which we base our promotion and protection of fundamental human rights.

Having agreed these rights we cannot simply assume that the task is done —that merely saying having these rights delivers those rights.

We must commit to the rights without which these cannot be secured and it is for this reason that we have recognised that the Right to Development must be promoted and protected by all.

The first globally significant step taken by Jamaica at the point of its independence in 1962 was to call for Human Rights to be placed at the centre of the global agenda at the UNGA that year!

We were among those who came from a legacy of slavery and colonization who wished the world to recognize and commit to a body of rights that would ensure that these and other practices of the past that had caused great suffering for human beings and in some cases seen genocide, the destruction of communities and civilizations and the dehumanization of peoples would be banished from our collective values, though not our memories, and replaced with fundamental commitments that would secure for future generation rights denied generations past.

It is in this context that we come to the Right to Development.

I am pleased that the proclamation of Teheran adopted on May 13, 1968 by the International Conference on Human Rights was proposed by Jamaica in 1967 and its prepcom chaired by a father of our foreign service Sir Egerton Richardson. The proclamation expressed the belief that the enjoyment of economic and social rights is inherently linked with any meaningful enjoyment of civil and political rights and that there is a profound interconnection between the realization of human rights and economic development.

This recognition of this inherent linkage between economic and social rights and civil and political rights has been affirmed by Jamaica and like minded countries for many years and it is in this context that the 1986 Declaration on the Right to Development  was adopted.

The Human Right to Development has helped to transform a development narrative that had for too long been about things, statistics and edifices, when its focus should have been the well being of people.

Development is not mere growth; it is the measure of the improvement in the quality of life of persons.

Therefore, processes that retard development, diminish the quality of life of the human being and puts at risk the ability to exercise other rights and to survive must be seen for what they are – a denial of human rights.

The Right to Development as compelling as it would be in concept, is made even more critical to the overall Human Rights cause because of its context.

It has come after a sober reflection on what centuries and decades of abuses of the right to development have wrought and the divisions of countries and peoples along fault lines of plenty and poverty that were spawned by that history.

It recognized that is on the altar of economics and commerce that the most brutal denial of rights has been based.

The most horrific manifestation of this is in the practice and legacy of slavery and in particular the transatlantic slave trade that made economic interests and development for a few the basis upon which societies and peoples were deformed and the rights of millions denied.

This dramatic example of the antithesis of the right to development is a sobering backdrop to the continuing challenges that demand that this right be promoted and protected in our time.

The Right to Development is also an enabler for other rights. Social harmony and the freedoms that we cherish, require can best be attained when our societies are free from the risk of being drowned in poverty and destitution – where youth without jobs question the freedoms that they feel they cannot afford, resent the privileges that they cannot enjoy and question the values that deem this acceptable.

So even as domestic and international agendas evolve ever-increasing obligations under the civil and political rights umbrella, these efforts are at risk of crumbling under the weight of disaffection and anger from those denied the right to share in the growth around them – denied the right to development.

The Right to Development seeks to situate human rights in the wider context of the practices that enable or disable freedom from fear and want, and secure the inherent dignity of the human person.

It seeks to put the “horse” of the human person before the “cart” of the means of commerce and economic, social and cultural development.

These must serve the human person as the ultimate purpose.

This right cannot therefore be squared with systems that are built on structural inequality and discrimination among human beings and which deny equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from development in all its aspects.

We can do no better than to consider and affirm the words of the Declaration itself:

The Right to Development is an inalienable human right by virtue of which every human person and all peoples are 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.

Can we argue that there is no such right or entitlement? Should we not criticize denial of these participatory rights in like manner to our criticism of denial of certain civil and political rights?

If we organize societies in which the right of some to contribute to and benefit from development is denied, if we by omission or commission curtail opportunities for development for some and promote these opportunities for others – is this discriminatory approach to development tenable?

The right to development recognizes the rights of communities to “the exercise of their inalienable right to full sovereignty over all their natural wealth and resources”.

We recall the consequences of doctrines of terra nullius which were but one manifestation of the view that some human beings by virtue of being different from those who “discovered them” have no rights in property and means that should be respected and the wealth and resources under their control could be taken at will because these individuals were not important, even if they were human in form.

The Right to Development recognizes an interrelationship between the right and the development process. In this context it requires that the development process be guided by a full appreciation of the human right that it must serve and be accountable to.

Like all other rights the question of fairness and equity is an underpinning of the right to development.

Development, including economic development cannot be truly realized unless the ability to participate freely in the development processes and to benefit fairly from them is secured. This is fundamental for the creation of fair and just societies.

How do we pursue the right through policy?

At the international level we have given effect to it in certain principles that seek to bring balance in the face of historical inequities.

It is well settled that where practices over time have been unfair and disadvantageous to individuals and communities, it is not enough to simply stop the clock and move on.

We need affirmative measures to help restore the balance and bring equity.

In the field of development and the means of implementation of development and sustainable development goals we must be keen to not crystallize inequity. We are called upon to correct this through affirmative steps thereby securing for the affected their right to development.

It is in this context that we see the reflection of the Right to Development in the SDGs, recognising that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development  is informed by the Declaration on the Right to Development.

Indeed, the fundamental principles of Agenda 2030 enjoy natural synergies with the Declaration on the Right to Development and the theme of equity in development.

Its solemn pledge to leave no one behind and affirmation that the dignity of the Human Person is fundamental leave no doubt.

How then might we harness the synergies between the Right to Development and the SDGs?

We can do so by moving from rhetoric to reality in fulfilling the ambitious goals that have been set recognizing that beyond the desirability of the pursuit of these goals lies a duty that is defined by the right of all human beings to participate in and benefit from development.

It reinforces the duty to see the eradication of poverty and hunger – two of the greatest threats to the enjoyment of the Right to Development – and we welcome this synergy.

In reinforcing these shared commitments it is important that we put to rest the debate about hierarchy of rights and efforts to divide rights rather than reinforce and consolidate them.

We should pursue a world in which all rights are recognized and respected and most importantly guaranteed and delivered.

We do so recognizing that what makes a right is not how easily attainable the realization of that right is. It is whether or not securing that right is crucial for securing the dignity of the human person.

H.E. Mr. Wayne McCook is the Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva. He is also the Chair of the Group of 77 and China Geneva Chapter.