To Claim our Rights; Livelihood Security, Human Rights and Sustainable Development

THIS REPORT WAS prepared in order to discuss the relevance of the human rights agenda to sustainable development within the framework of sustainable livelihoods. It was developed specifically for the World Bank but has a wider relevance to other development agencies. The report begins with an executive summary before moving on to the more substantive sections. A number of short case studies complete the text.

In the introductory section, the authors consider the attitude of the World Bank to human rights and examine the issues related to its commitment to remain outside of political affairs. Section II presents the sustainable livelihood approach and assesses its strengths and weaknesses. There is a similar analysis of the concept of sustainable development and, finally, of human rights. A longer consideration is offered of human rights, perhaps because there is considerably less literature on the subject. The authors summarize some of the key rights approved by the United Nations. They offer brief replies to some key questions that need to be addressed on the implementation of a rights-based agenda.

Section III considers the integration of a rights approach with a sustainable development framework. The authors identify three significant levels: normative, analytical and operational, each of which, they argue, has relevance. Moving to a more detailed analysis, they consider some of the issues involved at each level. This section includes a number of useful summary tables, including an analysis of the nature of different rights regimes (such as international, regional, religious, constitutional and customary) and channels through which rights are contested. Short boxes introduce some of the case study experiences.

Three final sections conclude the report. The first considers the links between the approaches and describes two alternative scenarios for the integration of human rights into sustainable development. The second concluding section argues in favour of such an integration and the final section addresses some additional questions.