By Neena Bhandari
LONDON, Jul 2 2000 (IPS)

Human rights and human development are the two sides of the same coin, but neither can be realised without empowering the poo r, a seminar here on the just released United Nations Development Programm e (UNDP) report on human development said.

While the World Bank takes the line that economic growth and market f orces should come back to the centre of development, Dr Richard Jolly, prin cipal co-ordinator of the Human Development Report (HDR), emphasises that “eliminating poverty is the central challenge for achieving human rig hts and development. We need accountability not only from the state, but from the MNCs, NGOs and other actors in civil society, who must fulfil their obligat ions”.

That accountability does come with democratic rule, seminar participa nts say, but while many states in Africa have democracy, popular government ha s not necessarily brought a better standard of living and economic prosperi ty.

“The vision of stability is elusive. People’s basic livelihood is jeo pardised by nepotism and the diminishing role of governments,” said Barney Pit yana, chairperson of the South Asian African Human Rights Commission.

Many democracies in Africa, Latin America and East Asia are under ser ious threat, says Omar Norman, co-author of the HDR. Collapse of the econo my leads to social tensions, undermining civil and political rights thereby im perilling democracy.

“If these democracies are not strengthened, we’ll see a return to authoritative regimes where human rights will be a failure,” he said.

Norman said rampant corruption, impunity for certain sections of the society, discrimination against minorities, oppressed media and civil society and growing poverty characterise these societies.

“For human development, social and economic rights have to be made ma ndatory alongside political and civil rights. India has been a beacon of civi l rights and liberties with an open and vibrant media,” he suggested

Human rights and human development have an integrated vision and purp ose towards freedom and solidarity, added Jolly. “There are myths that de veloped countries take rights seriously, but not the developing. This is not true. South Africa has been the first country to embody Gay Rights for deve lopment strategy. In other fields as well SA has taken rights more seriously than the UK.”

Achieving human rights requires norms, institutions, frameworks and a n enabling economic environment.

“The outcome of the HDR is important for the pattern of development. Human rights are a mechanism for the advancement of human development. Ther e is a symbiosis between the two in improving the human condition. But inter national action makes little difference in the absence of national political w ill. Many of these rights are ratified by member countries, but not incorporate d into the national legislation. Hence, they are not enforced,” notes Frances St ewart, Director, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.

India, for example, has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, but child labour and low wages still exist.

The fact is that with rights come obligations, which need to be added as the third facet to twin concept of human rights and human development, sa ys economist Amartya Sen.

“The question of the fulfilment of rights must be distinguished from the issue of their existence. We need not jump from regretting the non- fulfilme nt of rights all the way to the denial of the existence or the cogency of t he rights themselves. Often, rights are unfulfilled precisely because of the fa ilure of duty bearers to perform their duties,” Sen added.

According to Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Huma n Rights, the goal is to achieve all human rights – civil, cultural, economic, political and social for all people in all countries.

Human rights are not a reward of development, but are critical to ach ieving it. Once people are given rights and a stake, they will participate in development.

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