For over 35 years since the right to development gained formal recognition as a human right, it has remained the subject of a highly politicised debate. Unfortunately, as former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay noted on the occasion of the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development in 2011, the politicised debate ‘has done little to free the right to development from the conceptual mud and political quicksand in which it has been mired all these years’. Conceptually, the right to development entails concrete action to ensure its realisation. Following the universal recognition of the right to development in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action in 1993 and the undertakings under other international instruments to make its realisation a reality, it is crucial to determine to what extend these commitments have been actualised. On the basis of this background information, we plan to have the 2nd International Conference at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria to explore Insights into Policies and Practices on the Right to Development from a multidisciplinary point of view. The conference is intended to bring together legal experts, scholars and emerging researchers, development practitioners and well as policy makers in the areas of human rights and development and related disciplines to share knowledge on measures relating to the implementation of the right to development across the world. We anticipate the conference to provide the opportunity for collaboration and networking to advance the debate on the right to development globally.
