Ubuntu, human rights and sustainable development: Lessons from the African Arbitration Academy’s Model Bilateral Investment Treaty

Abstract

This paper provides a non-exhaustive analysis of the ubuntu-based human rights approach to sustainable development adopted recently by the African Arbitration Academy’s Model Bilateral Investment Treaty. The concept of ubuntu is used in this approach to sustainable development as an overriding principle for the interpretation, performance and enforcement of substantive treaty provisions, including investors’ human rights obligations. Through this original approach, sustainable development objectives are to be achieved in the host state by focusing on effective protection and implementation of human rights. Specifically, the study employs the methodology of legal analysis of provisions derived primarily from the model, the methodology of comparative analysis and the comprehensive study doctrine. The paper suggests that the ubuntu-based human rights approach has the potential to enhance the acceptance of human rights, effectively implement them and contribute to the achievement of sustainable development goals. This paper is an important contribution to the literature on sustainable development, the culturalisation of human rights and corporate human rights responsibility.