Abstract
The Human Rights-based-Approach (HRBA) to development has been endorsed by the United Nations (UN) and development agencies as the preferable approach to development. It has the potential to adequately address poverty in the developing world and to align development work with universal instruments on human rights, such as the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) (1948). However, while much has been written about the HRBA as a viable approach to development, little is known about how the HRBA is implemented in practice, especially in non-western settings. This paper provides empirical data from a HRBA-framed poverty reduction project conducted in two ethnic communities in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, undertaken by Action Aid International Vietnam (AAV). The results demonstrate that the adaptation of the HRBA to these two local contexts was not easy or smooth. While there are many dimensions that shape the success of development work, in this article I focus on the ways in which political culture can create obstacles to the implementation of the HRBA. The article concludes by recommending some strategies that work to ameliorate these concerns.
Highlights
The Human Rights-based-Approach (HRBA) to development has been endorsed by the United Nations (UN) and development agencies as the preferable approach to development
The study included interviews and observational data, and a combination of data added depth to the data collected and provided multiple perspectives to the research (Berg 2004; Hay 2010). This finding from this study suggest that, in order to effectively implement the HRBA to development in the communities in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, greater attention needs to be paid to addressing local contemporary political culture
The second section of this paper explores the relationship between political reform and development, with a particular focus on exploring the local political culture and the way in which this culture can work as an obstacle to the Aid International Vietnam (AAV) project
Summary
The Human Rights-based-Approach (HRBA) to development has been endorsed by the United Nations (UN) and development agencies as the preferable approach to development. The HRBA stresses that rather than treating local people as recipients of development outcomes, local people must be placed at the heart of the development process as principle stakeholders with the ability to shape and make their own decisions (Clark 2002; UNDP 2003) They must be adequately empowered to participate in, question and hold accountable public stakeholders in the community and outside it for decisions these stakeholders have made that affect local livelihoods (Kindornay, Ron & Carpenter 2012). The study included interviews and observational data, and a combination of data added depth to the data collected and provided multiple perspectives to the research (Berg 2004; Hay 2010) This finding from this study suggest that, in order to effectively implement the HRBA to development in the communities in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, greater attention needs to be paid to addressing local contemporary political culture. The paper summarizes the implications of the case study for the AAV project and for other development organizations that aim to implement the HRBA to development in local communities
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