Report on the International Colloquy on
“The Right to Development and Liberties – primary responsibility of international cooperation”
UNESCO Chair for Ethics in International Cooperation, University of Bergamo (Italy) 25-27 October 2012.
Author: Dr Janet Blake, International Relations Director, UNESCO Chair for Human Rights, Peace and Democracy (Shahid Beheshti University)
Background
This International Colloquy was organized by the UNESCO Chair for Ethics in International Cooperation, University of Bergamo (Italy) within the framework of a Thematic Network of UNESCO Chairs in which the UNESCO Chair for Human Rights, Peace and Democracy at Shahid Beheshti University is a member (see Annex I).
The Colloquy was held under the presidency of Professor Felice Rizzi, Director of the UNESCO Chair for Ethics in International Cooperation, University of Bergamo (Italy).
Theme of the Colloquy
Viewed through the lens of the ethics of international cooperation, this meeting took development to be the right to the interdependence of human rights and freedoms and the responsibilities associated with it. The right to development cannot simply be an additional element in the list of human rights; rather, it is the right to their interdependence and, as such, accords with Amartya Sen’s analysis of the development of freedom in terms of interdependent capabilities, both at the level of individuals and societies. Rights, freedoms and responsibilities are vectors of development, both the ends and the means, and their inclusion provides a comprehensive approach that respects this complexity.
a. The interdependence of human rights: the end and means of development. Every human right may be considered as an ability to be respected and valued as an end and means of development. In addition, these core capabilities mutually reinforce the principle of indivisibility and interdependence.
b. Every human right has a value.
The principle of interdependence of human rights implies that all rights are mutually reinforcing. With a view to progress in their interpretation and implementation, it is useful to try to identify those rights that have a cross-cutting function created because of the strategic position they occupy in the human rights system. Such rights include the right to education, information and property. The question is addressed whether cultural rights have a specific “linking” function within this interdependence, which renders them “levers" of development.
c. Interaction of freedoms and responsibilities between people and the different institutional levels. The principle of interdependence in the implementation of human rights involves an interaction between all actors. In this perspective, institutions are instruments and places essential to the exercise of the responsibilities of the different levels and for the development of a common consciousness.
d. Indicators of participation and connectivity.
In the current work on indicators for human rights and, in particular, on indicators for the right to development it is logical to attempt to identify specific indicators of participation and connection. Relationships between all stakeholders, institutional or otherwise, and between all the areas covered by the human rights, allows the subject to have a multiplicity of references and access to justice. This multiple connection is essential both for respect and a sense of identity, and is the source of mutual capacity building of individuals and their communities.
Presentations
At the Opening Ceremony, Professor Felice Rizzi (UNESCO Chair, University of Bergamo, Italy) welcomed all the participants and set out the work of the Bergamo Chair and the purpose of the Colloquy.
Speeches were then delivered by: Professor Stefano Paleari (Rector of the University of Bergamo), Monsignor Francesco Beschi (Diocesan Rector), Mr Leonio Calloni (Mayor), Mr Domenico Belloli (Provincial Representative) and Mr Emanuele Prati (Chamber of Commerce of Bergamo).
Scientific papers were delivered during the meeting as follows:
Professor Patrice Meyer-Bisch (UNESCO Chair, University of Fribourg, Switzerland) – What is a people? The Right to the Interdependence and development of liberties.
Professor Stefania Gandolfi (UNESCO Chair, University of Bergamo, Italy) – Liberty and migrations : A factor of development.
Dr Alessia Di Pascale (UNESCO Chair, University of Bergamo, Italy) – The Right to Unity of the Family and the Right to Development.
Dr Janet Blake (UNESCO Chair, University of Shahid Beheshti, Iran) – Culture, Development and Human Rights, with Reference to the Millenium Development Goals. (See Annex II for Abstracts in English and French).
Dr Christophe Golay (University of Geneva, Switzerland) – Interdependence between the Rights to Property and Food.
Ms Caroline Vuillemin, (Fondation Hirondelle, France) – The Transversal Character of Human Rights in the Right to Adequate Information.
Mr Alfred Fernandez, (OIDEL, Switzerland) - The Transversal Character of the Right to Education, Understood as a Liberty and a Responsibility
Dr Alvaro Juarez, (UNESCO Chair at the Catholic University of Tegucigalpa, Honduras) – Democracy and Human Rights – the Process of Development in Honduras
Professor Elvira Martin Sabina, (UNESCO Chair at the University of Havana, Cuba) – The Exercise of the Right to Education and Educational Institutions: the Cuban Experience.
Dr Juan Manuel Rodriguez Caamaño, (UNESCO Chair at the University of Sotavento, Mexico) - The Right to Higher Education: Experience of a Private University.
Professor Sergio MARELLI, (UNESCO Chair, University of Bergamo, Italy) – The Responsibility of Civil Actors in the Realization of All Rights.
Professor Yvonne Donders, (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands) – Measuring the Cultural Dimension of Human Rights and Development.
Ms Johanne Bouchard, (UNESCO Chair at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland) – Workshop on: Constructing Indicators for Participation and Connectivity
Dr Esther Raya (UNESCO Chair at the University of La Rioja, Spain) – Indicators of Social Exclusion.
Ms Angela Melo (Director, Division of Social Inclusion and Youth, UNESCO, Paris) – The Participation in Cultural Rights towards Policies for Social Inclusion.
Future Cooperation:
Following these presentations, representatives from the UNESCO Chairs in Italy, Tehran, Mexico, Cuba, Honduras, Switzerland and Spain discussed future possibilities for cooperation in this area. The following proposals were agreed upon, the first two of which will most directly involve the UNESCO Chair at Shahid Beheshti University:
(1) Preparing a publication on the relationship between human rights and development, with contributions from each UNESCO Chair. The exact content and working methodology to be decided through email consultation.
(2) An International Conference (between the Chairs) on the subject of “Sanctions Regimes and Human Rights – Economic, Social and Cultural Impacts” to be hosted by the UNESCO Chair at Shahid Beheshti University at a date to be determined.
(3) Establishing a Working Group aimed at identifying human rights indicators for development.
Annex I:
Culture, Development and the Indivisibility of Human Rights, with Reference to the Millenium Development Goals
Janet Blake*
Abstract
The Proclamation of Tehran (1968) is one of the key contextual documents in which this paper is situated. It noted that a widening gap between the economically developed and developing countries impedes the realization of human rights in the international community, still an unfortunately relevant point despite many international development programmes. It also stated the crucial importance of economic, social and cultural rights to the full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and the fulfilment of all rights as a prerequisite for sound and effective economic and social development policies (at national and international levels). This position remains relevant today and was further refined in the Fribourg Declaration (2007) which notes that: (i) we need to take into account the cultural dimension of all human rights; (ii) respect for diversity and cultural rights is a crucial factor in the legitimacy and consistency of sustainable development; and (iii) that this presupposes the indivisibility of human rights.
In this paper, the constitutive role of culture in achieving truly sustainable development will be examined as well as how the understanding that we have of development itself is crucial in terms of the degree to which it responds to the above assertions, in particular the indivisibility of human rights. Second, the relationship between development theories and human rights and, in particular, human development as an approach is examined within the conceptual framework set out. The Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) are then critically analysed in terms both of their underlying conception and how they implicate human rights in their operation in order to illustrate the cross-cutting character of cultural and culture-related rights as well as to deliver a critique of these goals. With reference to the constitutive role of culture in development, the failure to include an explicitly cultural element in the MDGs is also addressed here. As a conclusion, this paper will attempt to contribute to the discussion over future international development policy after the end of the MDGs in 2015.
La culture, le développement et l’indivisibilité des droits de l’homme, faisant référence aux objectifs millénaires pour le développement
Janet Blake*
Abstrait
La Proclamation de Téhéran (1968) est un des principaux documents contextuels dans lesquels ce document est situé. Il a noté que l'écart se creuse entre les pays développés et en en voie de développement entravant la réalisation des droits de l'homme dans la communauté internationale; un point malheureusement pertinent malgré de nombreux programmes du développement international. Il a souligné aussi l’importance vitale des droits économiques, sociales et culturels pour la réalisation complète des droits de l’homme et des libertés fondamentaux, aussi la nécessité de garantir tous les droits de l’homme en tant que condition préalable pour les politiques stables et effectives du développement économique et sociale (aux niveaux nationales et internationales). Cette approche reste d'actualité et a été affiné dans la déclaration de Fribourg (2007) qui a noté: (i) il faut prendre compte de la dimension culturelle de tous les droits de l’homme ; (ii) le respect pour la diversité et les droits de l’homme est un facteur fondamental pour achevoir le développement durable légitime et consistent ; et (iii) celui-là présuppose l’indivisibilité des droits de l’homme.
Dans cet article, le rôle constitutif de la culture dans la réalisation du développement véritablement durable sera examiné. On examinera aussi le rôle de notre concept du développement comme un élément crucial pour répondre aux affirmations ci-dessus, en particulier l’indivisibilité des droits de l’homme. Deuxièmement, la relation entre les théories du développement et les droits de l’homme, particulièrement, l’approche du développement humain sera examiné [set out]. Les Objectifs du Millénaire pour le développement (OMD) seront ensuite analysées de façon critique du point de vue de leur conception fondamentale afin de saisir comment ils impliquent les droits de l’homme dans leur fonctionnement. Ils illustrent aussi le caractère transversal de la culture et des droits culturels. En ce qui concerne le rôle constitutif de la culture dans le développement, l'omission d'inclure explicitement un élément culturel dans la réalisation des OMD est également abordée ici. Pour conclure, cette étude tentera de mettre en question la future politique de développement international, après la fin de la réalisation des OMD en 2015.