The United Nations System and the Realisation of the Right to Development: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Given the controversy on the right to development (RTD), this article examines the extent to which this right can be realised within the current United Nations (UN) and regional human rights mechanisms. To this end, it explores the opportunities provided by an interdependence-based interpretation of global and regional treaties. It also looks at avenues provided by the UN Universal Periodic Review and its Special Procedure. It finds that indeed an interconnectedness-based reading of human rights, though not a substitute for a treaty on the RTD, could be used to foster the RTD while waiting for the adoption of a potential treaty on it.