Online Reporter
Ivan Zhakata
Herald Correspondent
ZIMBABWE has called for the adoption of a legally binding international framework to advance the right to development, noting that political commitments over the past four decades have failed to address the challenges confronting developing countries adequately.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Mrs Vimbai Nyemba, made the call in Geneva, Switzerland, recently, at the Biennial Panel Discussion on the Right to Development held to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development.
Mrs Nyemba said while the declaration has created hope and empowerment, its promise remained elusive for most developing countries.
“The sense of hope and empowerment created by the declaration has remained elusive to most of the developing countries,” she said.
She said the 1986 declaration called on countries to cooperate and eliminate obstacles to development, but four decades later, developing countries continued to face widening inequalities and food shortages, alongside the use of unilateral coercive measures.
Mrs Nyemba said there was need to recognise the interconnected nature of human rights and create an enabling environment for the realisation of the right to development.
“We must recognise that human rights are indivisible and interdependent and the realisation of the right to development requires an enabling environment at all levels,” she said.
She identified unilateral coercive measures, climate change, global financial crises, geopolitical tensions and rapid technological changes among the persistent and emerging obstacles to development.
Mrs Nyemba called for appropriate development strategies and stronger international commitments to confront the challenges.
“We need to implement appropriate development strategies and reposition development from political commitment into a structured, legally binding framework that is designed to address modern global crises,” she said.
The Permanent Secretary said the coming decade should focus on translating international commitments into tangible improvements in people’s lives.
“It is our sincere hope that the next decade will be about moving from words to action and from text-based debate to real-world delivery,” she said.
The panel discussion marked the 40th anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development and provided a platform for countries to reflect on progress made and challenges that continue to hinder the attainment of the right to development.
Mrs Nyemba’s intervention placed emphasis on the need for stronger international cooperation and practical measures to ensure that development rights translate into tangible outcomes, particularly for developing countries.
