Rights and development should go hand in hand
“It is understood that legality has a key function in regulating the movement of life, governing the relationships and rights of individuals, groups and institutions, and extending the range of contemplation,” Al Yahya’ee added.
PROTECTION OF RIGHTS
When formulating plans and policies, care is taken to ensure that they contribute positively to the development and protection of rights.
In his paper ‘Human Rights and Sustainable Development Goals,’ Tomasito Villarin, member of Parliament, the Philippines, mentioned that human rights have high priority or they would not have the ability to compete with other powerful considerations such as national stability and security, individual and national self-determination, and national and global prosperity.
He also pointed out the equality between genders, referring to the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The Social Covenant’s list of rights includes non-discrimination and equality for women in economic and social life (Articles 2 and 3), freedom to work and opportunities to work (Article 4), fair pay and decent conditions of work (Article 7), the right to form trade unions and to strike (Article 8), social security (Article 9), special protections for mothers and children (Article 10), the right to adequate food, clothing and housing (Article 11), the right to basic health services (Article 12), the right to education (Article 13), and the right to participate in cultural life and scientific progress (Article 15).
Dr Rana Kharouf, Legal Adviser to the Arab-asian Parliament for Human Rights, stated that the overlap between human rights and development in light of globalisation is a reality. No matter what, development and human rights cannot be divided because they are mutually dependent and complementary on a global and local scale.
She claimed that in the modern world, human freedom - which enables a person to exercise their choices and take part in making important decisions that have a lasting impact on their life - shares a vision with human rights.
It is necessary to make a variety of proposals, such as creating longterm national strategies to enhance development indicators, primarily represented by improvements in health, education, training, housing and the environment. To achieve sustainable development at all scales, she emphasised the significance of creating a government advisory council that works on creating a national strategy and recommending studies and proposals that would link the efforts of the public and private sectors. She recommended that human rights be included in educational institutions in a way that allows the individual to formulate developmental policies and achieve sustainable human development actively.