Introduction.

Development and the fulfilment of human rights share in various ways, a common goal and a commitment in promoting the well-being and the dignity of individuals in all societies. However, in practice today, its easy to conclude that these two undermine each other rather than complement. They are so distinct that they seem not to add anything substantial to each other. This essay is therefore going to investigate the impact of development on human rights by reflecting on developing and newly developed countries as points of references. A conclusion will then formally close this reflection.

What is Development? Traditionally, development was considered in the form of economic development. Economic development therefore refers to the process of developing and maintaining suitable economic, social and political environments, in which balanced growth may be realized by increasing the wealth of the community.1 This was measured by an increase in the number of jobs created and capital received in terms of investment in the country. However, this shallow definition has been expanded to include the reduction and elimination of poverty and inequality within a growing economy and improvements in health and education access.2 Over the recent years, the concept of sustainable development has been introduced to include the protection of the environment so as to protect future generations to come.3

1 2

Definition of Economic Development, www.edaalberta.com/about_us/definitionofecondevelop.htm Decent Work and Poverty Reduction In the Global Economy, www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/exrel/papers/2000/globalec.htm 3 Sustainable Development, www.un.org/esa/sustdev

What is Human Rights? These are universal rights held to belong to individuals by virtue of their being human, surrounding civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights and freedoms. 4All of these are based on the notion of personal human dignity and worth. The United Nation's Commission on Human Rights in 1948 created the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which pressed for the concept of human rights after the horrors of World War II. The declaration of human rights document promotes freedom, education, right of property and equality. 5 Human rights have since become primary obligations for states to promote and protect. At the same time there are organisations like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Survival International that are always on the look out to report cases where governments dont perform their duties.

Can Development and Human Rights be pursued simultaneously? Even though both concepts have similar destinations, there are different views as to how to get there. There is one group that believes on obtaining development first and human rights fulfilment will automatically be achieved in the process. Katarina Tomasevski in her book Development Aid and Human Rights, talks about the development dictatorship thesis.6 This thesis supports the dominance of economic growth over human rights. In supporting their arguments, supporters of this thesis have argued that human rights can be promoted and protected only after a high level of development has been achieved. They therefore assume that suspension of human
4

Intro to Human Rights, www.fiaah.org/content/view/81/45 Universal Declaration of Human Rights Preamble, http://www.udhr.org/UDHR/udhr.HTM

Tomasevski, K., The Economic Case of Human Right, Development aid and human rights, Pinter Publishers, London, 1989, pages 143-145.

rights in the short term will lead to a high level of development, which in turn will lead to the fulfilment of human rights in the long term. 7 This sort of approach has been utilized by the newly industrialized East Asian tigers in their quest to develop since the 1960s.8 In the developing world, this approach is being applied even though no country has officially declared its use. Take for instance a country like Botswana. With a desperate need for economic development, they have been evicting native San Bushmen form their indigenous homelands which are believed to be diamond rich and can lead to a boost of the countrys economic growth.9 Even though the government has an intention of relocating them to other areas where they can access better housing, education, and health care facilities, the same government that is supposed to be protecting them is undermining their social and cultural rights.

In most countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, famine has had an annual occurrence over the past ten years. According to Amartya Sen, the 1998 Nobel price winner for economic science and also the author of the book, Development and Freedom, this is often caused by lack of purchasing power or entitlement but not the actual food shortage.10 For instance, a country like Kenya has been experiencing famines domestically for many years now but has still maintained its continued export of its best cash crops like coffee, tea, fruits and flowers to developed countries in the hope of getting foreign exchange at the expense of their starving citizens. For such countries, satisfying developed countries needs is more important than their own. They have promoted poverty and inequality that they are trying to fight at the same time.
7 8

Ibid Joanne R. Bauer and Daniel A. Bell, The East Asian challenge for human rights, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989, p 43. 9 , Augustine Hungwe, A Paper on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of specific groups: Minorities and indigenous groups, University of Zimbabwe, 2005, pages 4 7. 10 Sen, Amartya Kumar, Development as freedom, Anchor book, New York, 1999, p 75.

Another interesting case worth looking at is the youngest independent African state, South Africa. After the African National Congress (ANC) government took power in 1994, they adopted the Batho Pele or People First policy.11 In their bid to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), they have however changed and they are currently trying to remove some of the policies that were initially put in place to protect its citizens. The most controversial policy is the labour departments policy on minimum wages and salaries. This policy was intended to protect workers from being exploited by their employers.12 However, as there is less FDI coming into South Africa, the government is currently debating on having a two tier labour policy that will be less restrictive to employers.13 This move has given an additional blow to the already divided ANC that also consists of COSATU (Congress of South African Trade Unions) as its member and has also increased political tension within the country. From this, it is easy to conclude that foreign investors such as multinational corporations are actually doing these countries a favour by investing in them. This therefore gives them absolute autonomy over the countrys economic and political spheres. This is a clearly illustration of how the desperation for FDI has destabilized developing countries. All of these situations are common in most developing countries and from this it is clear that economic growth has been given the drivers seat while human rights is somewhat lingering in the background.

The Human Rights approach to Development.

11 12

Batho Pele Handbook, www.dpsa.gov.za/documents/batopeleHB/chapter1.pdf Basic Guide to minimum wage, www.labour.gov.za/basic_guides/ bguide_display.jsp? id=5566&programme_id=2664 13 Cosatu to fight 'two-tier' system, www.btimes.co.za/99/1107/news/news.htm

On the other side, there is another group of development economists who believe that development and human rights go hand in hand and should therefore be pursued simultaneously.14 This group led by human rights organizations, UN agencies, bilateral donors, and development NGOs, have formulated a human rights approach to development. The objective of this strategy is to enable everyone to be active as an active citizen with rights expectations and responsibilities.15 According to them, a human rights approach to development means that it should incorporate the empowerment of poor people into projects aimed at tackling poverty. Secondly, It should ensure that poor peoples voices are heard when decisions regarding their lives are made. Thirdly, equality must be observed by all means available. Finally, the government has a human rights obligation of being accountable to its citizens. 16

In paper, the above proposal is a seductive one.

In practice especially when it

involves a developing country, this is a white elephant. This is due to the availability of limited funds at their disposal and the capitalistic nature of the global economy that dictates these countries. This however doesnt mean that in their pursuit to develop, developing countries do not promote human rights. In fact, promotion of human rights has been extensively carried out by such states while developing at the same time. It is now essential for such a country to respect human rights for them to be considered eligible for foreign aid and investments. Before, foreign aid was given to countries depending on their needs. However, after gross human rights abuse was realized in these needy countries, respect for human rights became a condition to be fulfilled before aid was availed by the IMF, World Bank and the entire donor community at
14

The Human Rights Based Approach to Development, http://www.righttowater.org.uk/code/HR_approach.asp

1 15 16

Ibid Ibid

large. This has seen previously authoritarian and repressive states like Kenya initiating multi-party democracy and also improving their human rights track record after pressures from these institutions. Secondly, for human rights to be ultimately achieved, an appropriate social condition must be in place. This condition can be ensured by development. Development creates an environment that in which peoples capabilities can be enhanced and their range of choices expanded. From this, human rights analysts can get a comprehensive assessment of what can be achieved given the resources and institutional constraints that prevail within a state.17 Thirdly, development in itself contributes to the fulfilment of human rights. Human development in the form of increased access to education and health care facilities improves the living standards of individuals leads to the fulfilment of human rights as indicated in the UN Declaration.

The Human Rights Vs Development Dilemma As previously illustrated, developing countries are currently in a dilemma. In their pursuit for development, they are often forced to sacrifice the rights of certain members of the society. However, due to the fact that they dont have the necessary funds needed for such projects, they are forced to borrow from the donor community. For donations to be approved, they are therefore forced to meet conditions that also include protection of rights. In order to protect such rights, development countries are therefore forced to abandon their development projects. In the end these countries therefore remain undeveloped. Conclusion.

17

Ibid

Gains in development do not often lead to gains in human rights. Subsequently, a pure development project may fail to pick up on the vulnerability of individuals and groups within a society. It is therefore important for governments of developing countries to do comprehensive feasibility studies before deciding on development projects. Such assessment would ensure that all the controversies surrounding the project are considered.