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Human Rights, Development, and Good Governance. Professor Brendan Howe Department Chair Graduate School of International Studies Ewha Womans University. Introduction.
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Human Rights, Development, and Good Governance Professor Brendan Howe Department Chair Graduate School of International Studies EwhaWomans University
Introduction • Busan Partnership identified the promotion of human rights, democracy and good governance as an integral part of development efforts. • Complex relationship between security, development and rights – entitlement rights of the governed; obligations on those who govern to provide safe havens free from fear and want. • Good global governance means moving beyond a state-centric focus on threats between states to concern about threats within states.
Governance • We expect those who govern to do so in the interest of those who are governed. • Governance looks to reconcile conflicting interests in order to protect the weak from unjust exploitation from the strong through the rule of law, and introduce security for all. • Second, governance looks to generate collective good and goods so that all are better off than they would be acting individually. • Conflict and Poverty are the two biggest drivers for threats to human security and causes of governance failure.
Domestic versus International • Domestic governance by instruments of state. • Internationally [1] in absence of world gov; [2] what to do when domestic gov fails. • Some states unwilling/unable to provide gov necessary to protect their people and/or provide collective good. • Neglect/intent states = sources of insecurity and underdevelopment for their citizens. • Dramatic shift in focus from external threats to state to direct and indirect violence upon individuals within state.
Good Governance • Essentially contested concept. • Efficiency in provision of services/economic competitiveness • Economic growth/productivity • Accountability • But: [1] Top-down; [2] Aggregate measures; [3] Exogenous values & Western standards; [4] Political over entitlement rights.
Governance, Security & Development • Governance and violent conflict are intimately related with most occurrences of the latter being “caused and sparked off” by failures in the former. • Reverse causality with conflicts pulling down governance and public administration institutions and structures. • Likewise human security and development can be seen as mutually reinforcing. • Conversely, conflict retards development, and underdevelopment can lead to conflict.
Human Rights and the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) • Peacekeeping and humanitarian law. • Nuremberg, UN Charter, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Covenants on Civil & Political / Economic & Social Rights, end of the Cold War, Rwanda, Kosovo • R2P: ‘clear and unambiguous acceptance by all governments of the collective international responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.’ Intervention?
Responsibility to Provide? • Traditional state-centric concepts insufficient to encompass diverse threats. • Non-violent challenges/inaction/incompetence may pose a greater threat to human security. • [1] short-term crisis relief and reconstruction assistance; • [2] long-term structural adjustment assistance aimed at alleviating the underlying conditions that both threaten human security in the broad sense, and can contribute to the emergence or escalation of conflict.
Entitlement Rights/Obligations • Human beings have entitlement rights by virtue of being human beings. • Responsibility to protect and responsibility to provide. • Freedom from fear and freedom from want. • Who should protect and provide? IGOs, States, Cities, NGOs, Citizens – all owe a duty to fellow human beings regardless of nationality, citizenship, ethnicity, or religion.
