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Rights and Development in Latin America: A Working Seminar
Rights and Development in Latin America: A Working Seminar
Santiago, Chile
December 2004
On December 9th and 10th, the IDB, ECLAC and the British agency DFID, with the special participation of the World Bank, organized a technical meeting to discuss the potential contribution and implications of promoting a rights-based development perspective in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Presented during the event were a number of IDB-commissioned studies to review the concept of rights-based development, the historic tradition of Latin America by which rights were transformed into privileges, and the importance of a rights-perspective to strengthen equity issues of the region?s social policies. These studies, conducted by Abramovich, Gordon and Solimano, highlight, among other things, the importance of a rights-perspective in order to (1) break with the customer-based relationships that mediate/intercede between citizens and the providers of basic social services, and use government services (obligations) to provide favors and secure votes and other political goals; (2) reaffirm the benefits of democracy in terms of equity and the exercise of rights; and (3) visualize the problems involving the exclusion of the most vulnerable and move toward the adoption of truly progressive and redistributive tax systems.
The event, financed by DFID, included an audience of close to 60, with the special participation of leading officials of nongovernmental organizations from Asia and Africa, who presented their experience with rights promotion efforts. A case involving the social audit of an IDB-financed health program in Panama and an experience involving the participation of isolated communities in areas within the sphere of influence of Peru?s CAMISEA project, were two examples presented of the progress recorded by the region as regards to participation and the exercise of social, economic and cultural rights.
Despite covering a topic that is rarely included in regional debates on development, the event confirmed the importance of this type of approach in promoting the participation and empowerment of the most vulnerable groups, as well as accountability, social inclusion, and principles of ethics in development practices. The participants concluded that, although this approach generates obligations for governments, it does not affect the degree of discretion or maneuverability of government authorities, but rather simply provides them with guidelines for redistributing and prioritizing investments.
On Friday, December 10th, World Human Rights Day, ECLAC organized a special session with the participation of UNICEF, the ILO and representatives of the Embassy of Haiti in Chile.
For more information on this event, attached hereto are the agenda, minutes, summary of case studies and technical documents. A newsletter will be published shortly on rights and development. If you are interested in receiving a copy, please contact Marcelap@iadb.org.
Last updated: 04/27/07
