Human rights-based approach and SDGs

Human rights are on the driving seat of development. It is increasingly being recognised that human rights are essential to achieve sustainable development. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - though not adequately connected with human rights - recognised the essential linkages between human rights and development. And human rights principles and standards are now strongly reflected in the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By contrast, development is also necessary for comprehensive protection and promotion of human rights. Understanding the significance of development for human rights, right to development is recognised as an inalienable human right for all.
The nexus between human rights and development is named as "Human Rights-Based Approach". There is no single model for rights-based approach but some common themes, therefore, can be identified. The idea is to include the norms, standards and principles of international human rights system into the plans, policies and process of development. In a broad sense, rights-based approach is a special approach to development regulated by human rights. Human rights work as the process as well as end in development programmes. Under a human rights-based approach, development efforts should aim at realising human rights on one hand and human rights standards such as participation, nondiscrimination and accountability, should guide all spheres of development process, on the other. Although SDGs themselves are not framed explicitly in the language of human rights, most targets explicitly reflect the content of corresponding human rights. SDGs have developed a set of human rights-informed indicators to determine the degree of human development. It is also being perceived that SDGs will adopt the rights-based approach in policy making and policy implementation.
This so-called rights-based approach has a number of significant focuses for achieving SDGs. SDGs and human rights-based approach are close enough in motivation and concern. They both aim at enlarging the greatest possible freedoms and dignity for every human beings. If policy framing of SGGs adheres with the rights-based approach model then the greatest possible outcomes can be achieved within the perceived time frame. Rights-based approach brings in the standards and principles of human rights e.g. participation, nondiscrimination, accountability and empowerment of the marginalised, for shaping interventions within the development process. It prioritises and offers empowerment for the most vulnerable when provided with their rights, informed participation, and access to resources and decision making. It offers accountability for all parties in development process when provided with the proper channels for evaluating the institutions and mechanisms.  It shifts the focus of development from the growth of GDP (gross domestic product) to human development, replaces the concept of individual basic needs with human rights, and binds the state and other duty bearers with the responsibility to satisfy those rights.
Being one of the LDCs, Bangladesh has been struggling on extreme poverty and hunger. Poverty is self reinforcing which sources some other problems e.g. corruption, nepotism, manipulation of power etc. and acquires the form of sustenance. Several development approaches have been tested since the independence but no single approach could bring sustainable outcomes. This happens mainly because of either inadequately framed development plans or wrongly implemented development processes. While the national development scenario is unsatisfactory, human development condition is fragile. Though the per capita income of the country is constantly rising but the income inequality is also rising at the same pace. As a consequence, still a large number of people are living below the extreme poverty line. Poverty, as caused by defectively planned development approaches and discriminatory distribution of resources, leads to the violation of people's basic human rights.
Bangladesh's performance in achieving MDGs in some sectors e.g. poverty reduction and ensuring food security, was commended by international observers but still some targets e.g. unemployment, universal access to health, pose challenges. Successes gained by MDGs seem less optimistic when they are assessed on the basis of human rights principles e.g. non-discrimination, participation, accountability etc. Being pressurised by international donors, successive governments are paying a good deal of lip service to have pursued the basic principles of rights-based model of development into the development policies and plans, but the policies and plans in practice are pursued in traditional way. Some NGOs (non-governmental organizations) are adhering to the rights-based approach in their internal activities but that is too little to influence the overall policy set up. In literacy level, little has been done to investigate the prospects and challenges of incorporating a human rights-based approach in Bangladesh. Contextual relationship between MDGs and human rights-based approach is far from being established. To academicians, the issue is receiving increased significance but the outcomes of academic work are yet to be seen. The issue is still not heeded by the people working in the field-level development and human rights.  
As Bangladesh is a signatory of several international instruments for approbating human rights, it is committed to play a lead role for implementing human rights at the policy level. Albeit the country is apparently trying in vain to improve the socio-economic human rights conditions within its traditional development framework. As a consequence, human rights situation remains unchanged.  In this context, rights-based approach seems pertinent for Bangladesh for ensuring a quick and, at the same time, sustainable human development. The government is of positive mind to achieve SDGs by the given time frame, but problems arise as to how these goals will be achieved. The existing policy set up of the country will not apparently bring any remarkable difference for achieving SDGs. If policy framing and policy implementation for achieving SDGs adhere with rights-based approach, then differences will, inevitably, be visible through outcomes.
Problems still remain with the implementation of this rights-based approach. There is no single universally agreed human rights-based approach. Though SDGs and human rights are explicitly linked in theory, neither the nexus between SDGs and human rights nor SDGs and human rights-based approach are yet satisfactorily connected in practice.  The aspiration to connect them together in the context of Bangladesh seems bold and daring. The problems are innumerable, forever changing and forever the same-a complex, fluid spectrum of social, economic and political issues that is impossible to grasp entirely. A mutual confidence between people working the field of human rights and people working in the field of development is far from being established. Conflicts of interest between different groups, institutions and political authorities are still unsettled.  Changing roles of different actors in the new approach are not defined. Problems and interventions e.g. corruption, nepotism, manipulation of powers etc. embedded into social, cultural and political variables in Bangladesh are not well-studied.
Analysis suggests that Bangladesh will not be able to achieve SDGs effectively if it fails to address associated challenges for incorporating human rights-based approach. Actions should be initiated to incorporate a rights-based approach in policy framing and policy implementation for fostering the effective achievement of SDGs. [Help has been taken from the Internet in preparing the article.]
The writer, a law practitioner, is LL.M. candidate 2015 at the University of Dhaka.
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