An Analysis of the Right to Development in the Contemporary International Law

Abstract

The concept of the right to development is a recent phenomenon and relatively a new addition to the family of human rights. It is a radical approach that measures development of nation-states using the indices of human rights as opposed to the traditional parameters of gross domestic product and per capita income. The development and implementation of the concept has been mired by controversies and there is wide spread skepticism about whether the right has attained the definitive status of law under the contemporary international law.This paper examines critically the concept, its development, its essential components and the challenges of its implementation.