Sri Lanka says concerted and sustained efforts are needed to eliminate obstacles to the realization of the right to development

Sri Lanka said “while there needs to be commitment at both national and international levels to achieve full realization of the right to development, effective international cooperation is essential to create a conducive environment to the realization of the right to development.”

Intervening during a panel discussion on “Realizing a Vision for Transformative Development: Challenges and Paths to Progress” at the commemorative event “'Sustainable Development with Dignity and Justice for All' organized by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the occasion of the 28th anniversary of the 1986 United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development, held on 2nd December 2014 at Palais des Nations in Geneva, Sri Lanka highlighted that concerted and sustained efforts are needed to eliminate obstacles to the realization of the right to development, such as unequal trade relations; unsustainable debt burdens; restrictions on technology transfer, labour flow and aid; and the democratic deficit in global governance; all of which exclude developing countries from full participation within the international decision making process. 

During the discussion Sri Lanka also reiterated its call for renewed efforts at all levels to implement fully and effectively the commitments relating to the eradication of poverty and the need for specific and speedy fulfilment of those commitments to improve social conditions, particularly, in the areas of capacity building in trade and development.

Recalling the significance of the alternative vision for development enshrined in the 1986 Declaration on the Right to Development, which still continues to provide the normative framework for new development agenda for the future, Sri Lanka said that a rights-based approach to the post 2015 development agenda must first and foremost translate into a firm commitment to the Right to Development. It also highlighted that in terms of process and substance, the post-2015 development agenda must have the right to development at its core and must ensure economic prosperity, social cohesion and environmental protection in an integrated manner, placing equal emphasis on the three pillars of sustainable development.

Statement

Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka
Geneva

03 December 2014