Geneva: The Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue, in cooperation with the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the UN and other International Organisations in Switzerland, organised a panel discussion entitled “The Right to Development, 30 years later: achievements, challenges and the way forward”, which took place at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
The discussion was an opportunity to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration on the Right to Development, as well as the 2016 International Human Rights Day.
The Chairman of the Geneva Centre’s Board of Management, Dr Hanif Al Qassim, and Vaqif Sadiqov, ambassador and permanent representative of Azerbaijan to the UN and other international organisations in Switzerland, delivered inaugural addresses.
The panel, which was moderated by Ambassador Idriss Jazairy, executive director of the Geneva Centre, included a number of leading personalities including: Ambassador Zamir Akram, chair-rapporteur of the UN Working Group on the Right to Development; Dr Manuel Montes, senior advisor on finance and development at The South Centre; Prof Koen de Feyter, chair of international law at the University of Antwerp; and Prof Dr Nico Schrijver, chair of public international law and academic director of Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies at Leiden University, and expert member of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
In his opening address, the chairman of the Geneva Centre’s Board of Management highlighted the nexus between human rights and development, noting that despite the achievements and milestones mentioned in the panel discussion, global threats to human rights around the world remain a serious issue.
Dr Al Qassim expressed his concerns about the ongoing violence, conflict and displacement that contradict the vision expressed by the Declaration in 1986. Dr Al Qassim noted that against this dismal background of violence, there had been an increase in Islamophobia and unfavourable views of Muslims across Europe and the US, during the past year.
This resulted in the mainstreaming of the anti-Muslim discourse which aroused dormant racism and thus amplified xenophobic sentiment. During the lively debate with the audience that followed, Obaid Salem Saeed Al Zaabi, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the United Arab Emirates to the UN, delivered a statement in which he encouraged the media and civil society to be more involved in the implementation of this right.
He mentioned the importance of participation and transparency, international cooperation on transnational issues and inclusive societies. Welcoming the newly established UN special rapporteur on this issue, he urged the mandate-holder to widen the scope and implementation of the right in the context of the 2030 Agenda.
Ambassador Al Zaabi presented the successful experience of the UAE, speaking spoke of its comprehensive development policy, including women empowerment and investment in all sectors of the society, and of the numerous development initiatives around the world supported by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development.
The panel discussion was attended by numerous diplomats representing more than 35 Permanent Missions in Geneva, as well as representatives of various NGOs and specialists in the field of human rights.
The Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation working in cooperation with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and United Nations Human Rights Council to promote and protect human rights through global dialogue.
Learn more about the centre’s activities by visiting www.gchragd.org or following their Twitter account @gchragd.
