Ships Passing in the Night: The Current State of the Human Rights and Development Debate seen through the Lens of the Millennium Development Goals

Abstract

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the most prominent initiative on the global development agenda and have a great deal in common with human rights commitments. But neither the human rights nor development communities has embraced this linkage with enthusiasm or conviction. This article explores the reasons why the two agendas resemble ships passing in the night, even though they are both headed for very similar destinations. The empirical evidence examined includes analyses prepared by a range of human rights NGOs, the MDG National Plans adopted by many developing countries, and the relevant analyses undertaken by UN human rights treaty bodies and special rapporteurs. The author calls upon the human rights community to engage more effectively with the development agenda, to prioritize its concerns rather than assuming that every issue needs to be tackled simultaneously, and to avoid being overly prescriptive.

United Nations criminology 2016-2030: Nihil novi sub sole?

“…It rather is about the answer of global academic community: will it seize the opportunity to go on board of a ship passing in its front with an important and heavy UN workload? This metaphorically [8] 8 formulated and concluding question posed in this Journal (issued in a Hanzeatic sea port city-the author's birthplace), is prompted because of the preceding the UN SDGs Millennium Development Goals/MDGs 2000-2015. Then Member States themselves missed the opportunity to come up in the MDGs' content with the balance between freedom from want (development) with issues related to freedom from fear (human rights), or give respective sufficient attention to inequalities and inclusiveness.…”

A Poverty of Rights: Six Ways to Fix the MDGs

“…It could play a larger role in development policy but is limited by design and suffers from some of the same weaknesses as the MDG monitoring system (see a general discussion in Alston 2005).…”

“…Some like Alston (2005) and UNDP (2008) straddle the contrarian positions, arguing that the MDGs are an adequate reflection of socioeconomic rights and the real challenge is to integrate human rights into development practice. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN OHCHR 2008) has been more critical, urging States to better align the targets at the country level with human rights and then ensure integration in practice.…”

“…But it carries dangers. For instance, Alston (2005) seeks to largely defend the MDG design from a human rights perspective but he is simultaneously puzzled as to why human rights are almost entirely absent in MDG-related policy guidance, strategies and reporting. He does not adequately stop to ask whether the problem might be the original design.…”

Rights Language in the Sustainable Development Agenda: Has Right to Health Discourse and Norms Shaped Health Goals?

“…Although states affirmed their commitment to "upholding respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms" in the 2000 Millennium Declaration, 7 the MDG process that followed showed little awareness or sustained engagement with human rights. 8 Indeed, the MDGs were criticized for being created in a non-deliberative, nontransparent, non-inclusive top-down process, 8,9 and for dropping targets with "a strong human rights orientationsuch as affordable water, fair trade, and support for orphans." 10 Sexual and reproductive health illustrates the potential impact of a disjuncture with rights: despite global recognition of these rights in the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development and the 1995 Beijing Platform of Action, conservative opposition saw women's health rights reduced to a maternal mortality goal in the MDGs, 11 with a formal reproductive health target only added in 2007 after a significant advocacy effort.…”