Papers by Sakiko Fukuda-Parr
Routledge eBooks, Nov 27, 2011
Among several contesting views about the purpose of development and how progress should be evalua... more Among several contesting views about the purpose of development and how progress should be evaluated, human rights and capabilities (or human development) stand out as two approaches that are concerned first and foremost with the well-being of individuals, their freedom, dignity and empowerment. These two approaches contrast sharply with the dominant development frameworks that emphasize economic growth as the essential objective. Though human rights and capabilities share these common commitment to human priorities, they are distinct concepts and fields that have developed separately. The aim of this volume is to explore the relationship between them in order to enhance the understanding of both as theoretical paradigms, as public policy frameworks and as approaches to development. The book includes contributions from some of the leading scholars in the two fields of capabilities approach and human rights. It covers the essential aspects of this relationship: addressing the complementarities between human rights and capabilities as theoretical concepts; how the concept of capabilities can contribute to resolving some key theoretical issues in human rights; how the social science analysis and methods of the capabilities approach can clarify human rights concepts and strengthen human rights advocacy; and how human rights norms can strengthen public policy and mobilize collective action to demand greater accountability in placing human priorities first in public policy. Human Rights and the Capabilities Approach raises many questions for further inter-disciplinary conversation and further research.
Social Science Research Network, 2007
The current consensus objective of development aid in the international community is to reduce po... more The current consensus objective of development aid in the international community is to reduce poverty in general and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in particular. In addition, the dominant view identifies economic growth as the principal means to this end. But the policy objective of aid can be defined in many ways, and has in fact varied over time with shifting priorities within the international community about the ultimate ends of development and the means for advancing those ends. This paper argues that more attention should be given to conflict prevention as a policy objective of development aid and explores the implications of doing so for aid programme priorities and the international aid architecture in general. The paper shows that violent conflict is a major obstacle to achieving the MDGs; it identifies 64 worst performing countries and finds that the majority have experienced violent internal conflict, and/or are vulnerable because of the socioeconomic correlates of internal war. The paper then argues that development policy priorities and their support with aid can be deployed to reduce these risks. Conflict prevention is thus an important policy objective as a means to achieving MDGs as well as an end itself since security from violence is an essential aspect of human wellbeing and human security. Integrating this policy objective would imply adjustments that would need to be made in aid architecture.
Oxford University Press eBooks, May 14, 2009
Diseases of The Colon & Rectum, 2013
Cet ouvrage est publié sous la responsabilité du Secrétaire général de l'OCDE. Les opinions et le... more Cet ouvrage est publié sous la responsabilité du Secrétaire général de l'OCDE. Les opinions et les interprétations exprimées ne reflètent pas nécessairement les vues de l'OCDE ou des gouvernements de ses pays membres. Ce document et toute carte qu'il peut comprendre sont sans préjudice du statut de tout territoire, de la souveraineté s'exerçant sur ce dernier, du tracé des frontières et limites internationales, et du nom de tout territoire, ville ou région.
Violent conflicts are concentrated in the countries farthest behind in achieving the MDGs. Much w... more Violent conflicts are concentrated in the countries farthest behind in achieving the MDGs. Much work has been done to develop a better understanding of conflicts and their relationship to development, but the development community has yet to engage fully with the need for new policy approaches that can help prevent conflict. Structural conditions that increase vulnerability to political violence and conflict are rarely addressed by current conflict prevention policy work. Without addressing the root causes, sustainable peace cannot be achieved. Surprisingly few studies have analyzed the contribution of aid to the full human security agenda and the current aid policy framework still favors countries with institutional and policy characteristics that are deemed to generate good growth performance. As a consequence, many fragile states (who are also the most vulnerable) have ended up with limited little donor support. A systematic study of aid in relation to conflict prevention is proposed as a policy objective to help fill a significant dimension of the current knowledge gap. Specifically, this project will seek to demonstrate that only by targeting structural risks and state fragility will development cooperation achieve human security. Engagement with fragile states requires a coherent combination of aid and non-aid policies in areas such as international trade and debt.
Diseases of The Colon & Rectum, 2013
Look for the StatLinks2at the bottom of the tables or graphs in this book. To download the matchi... more Look for the StatLinks2at the bottom of the tables or graphs in this book. To download the matching Excel® spreadsheet, just type the link into your Internet browser, starting with the prefix, or click on the link from the e-book edition.
IDS Bulletin, Oct 1, 1995
For 50 years, technical cooperation has defined the raison d'être of the United Nations role for ... more For 50 years, technical cooperation has defined the raison d'être of the United Nations role for promoting social and economic development. A major challenge for the United Nations is to rethink and retool itself in this role for the twenty first century. The need for such retooling is dictated in part by the overall need for new directions in development cooperation as a whole. The 1993 DAC Chairman's report, aptly entitled 'Aid in Transition' starts with the introductory remark that 'Donors must join with beneficiary countries and their people to rethink development goals and priorities. What is at stake is an unprecedented opportunity to build human security throughout the world. Using development assistance to facilitate and reinforce this process is critical'. The United Nations system needs to respond similarly to the challenge of redirecting its development cooperation in a new and changing world. The second, and just as compelling a reason for change, is the lesson of past and current experience with technical cooperation. We have seen a series of debate and analyses on the effectiveness of technical cooperation over the last ten years, starting with the DAC discussion in the mid 1980s leading to the 'Principles for New Orientations in Technical Cooperation' adopted in 1991, the 1992 Summit at the European Centre for Development Policy and Management in Maastricht, the publication of 'Rethinking Technical Cooperation' by UNDP, and the most recent DAC/UNDP/ World Bank High Level Seminar held in 1994. Many aid agencies, including the World Bank and French bilateral cooperation, carried out internal reviews during this time. Less well known but more important is the series of studies undertaken by the recipient countries, mostly in Africa (over 30), but also others such as The author is a staff member of the United Nations Development Programme. The views expressed are those of the author along and do not reflect the position of the UNDP.
Journal of Globalization and Development, Dec 19, 2018
One of the most important elements of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs is the strong commitment to in... more One of the most important elements of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs is the strong commitment to inclusive development, and 'leaving no one behind' has emerged as a central theme of the agenda. How did this consensus come about? And what does this term mean and how is it being interpreted? This matters because the influence of SDGs on policy and action of governments and stakeholders in development operates through discourse. So the language used in formulating the UN Agenda is a terrain of active contestation. This paper aims to explain the politics that led to this term as a core theme. It argues that LNOB was promoted to frame the SDG inequality agenda as inclusive development, focusing on the exclusion of marginalized and vulnerable groups from social opportunities, deflecting attention from the core issues of distribution of income and wealth, and the challenge of 'extreme inequality'. The term is adequately vague so as to accommodate wide ranging interpretations. Through a content analysis of LNOB in 43 VNRs, the paper finds that the majority of country strategies identify LNOB as priority to the very poor, and identify it with a strategy for social protection. This narrow interpretation does not respond to the ambition of the 2030 Agenda for transformative change, and the principles of human rights approaches laid out.
Oxford University Press eBooks, Mar 31, 2016
This chapter discusses the importance of politics to the relationship between human rights and de... more This chapter discusses the importance of politics to the relationship between human rights and development. It describes the two major ways in which human rights struggles have focused on development processes in the last two decades: the right to development, the struggles of poor countries for a better deal in the global economic system; and the human rights-based approach to development, the struggles of poor people for development to realize their rights. The chapter first considers the links between human rights, politics, and development before analysing the concepts and debates surrounding the right to development and the human rights-based approach to development. It then presents a case study on the Millennium Development Goals and the successor, Sustainable Development Goals, to illustrate how human rights principles are raised in contemporary debates on development priorities.
Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2012
If horizontal inequalities (HIs) are a source of conflict (Stewart 2008), what should be the poli... more If horizontal inequalities (HIs) are a source of conflict (Stewart 2008), what should be the policy response? In this chapter I argue that the risks of conflict can be reduced by addressing and reducing HIs through appropriate economic, social and governance policies.1 The chapter reviews the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) as a policy vehicle that could achieve these objectives and examines the cases of Haiti, Liberia and Nepal, countries characterized by high levels of HI that have also experienced protracted conflict in recent decades. The next section outlines relevant development policies for correcting HIs. Section 4.3 presents the three country cases. Section 4.4 contrasts the ways in which HIs have been addressed in post-conflict PRSPs, and identifies some key constraints. The final section draws lessons from these country cases to identify some key policy issues concerning PRSPs as a policy vehicle that involves not only national governments, but also donors and civil society, as stakeholders in a coordinated development strategy.
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, Nov 1, 2010
Capabilities and human rights are closely related and share common commitments to freedom and jus... more Capabilities and human rights are closely related and share common commitments to freedom and justice as central political objectives. Much of the literature on this relationship has focused on defining the overlaps and differences between them as theoretical concepts. This paper explores a different aspect of the relationship, namely the overlaps and differences in their respective measurement approaches. The paper argues that human development indicators that are used to evaluate policies for capability expansion, or human development, cannot substitute for human rights indicators because of the differences in them as concepts as well as the way that these concepts are used and applied. Human rights indicators are used to assess the accountability of the state in complying with the obligations that are codified in international and domestic law. However, the literature of development economics and the methods of empirical analysis and aggregative summary measurements extensively used in the human development and capabilities (HD/C) approach can overcome some of the constraints of conventional methods used in human rights assessments. These possibilities are illustrated in the Economic and Social Rights Fulfillment Index, recently developed by Fukuda-Parr, Lawson-Remer and Randolph that conceptualizes an empirical model of progressive realization and provides an empirical basis for setting benchmarks.
Routledge eBooks, Nov 27, 2011
Among several contesting views about the purpose of development and how progress should be evalua... more Among several contesting views about the purpose of development and how progress should be evaluated, human rights and capabilities (or human development) stand out as two approaches that are concerned first and foremost with the well-being of individuals, their freedom, dignity and empowerment. These two approaches contrast sharply with the dominant development frameworks that emphasize economic growth as the essential objective. Though human rights and capabilities share these common commitment to human priorities, they are distinct concepts and fields that have developed separately. The aim of this volume is to explore the relationship between them in order to enhance the understanding of both as theoretical paradigms, as public policy frameworks and as approaches to development. The book includes contributions from some of the leading scholars in the two fields of capabilities approach and human rights. It covers the essential aspects of this relationship: addressing the complementarities between human rights and capabilities as theoretical concepts; how the concept of capabilities can contribute to resolving some key theoretical issues in human rights; how the social science analysis and methods of the capabilities approach can clarify human rights concepts and strengthen human rights advocacy; and how human rights norms can strengthen public policy and mobilize collective action to demand greater accountability in placing human priorities first in public policy. Human Rights and the Capabilities Approach raises many questions for further inter-disciplinary conversation and further research
DESA Working paper, Jul 31, 2012
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were introduced to monitor implementation of the United N... more The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were introduced to monitor implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration which set out a vision for inclusive and sustainable globalization based on human rights principles. This paper critically assesses the MDG experience including their policy purpose, ethical commitments, political origins, and consequences. It proposes that post-2015 goals should be based on principles of equity, sustainability and human security and address key contemporary challenges such as climate change, unemployment, inequality and global market instability.
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2012
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2012
This paper is part of a series of recent research commissioned for the African Human Development ... more This paper is part of a series of recent research commissioned for the African Human Development Report. The authors include leading academics and practitioners from Africa and around the world, as well as UNDP researchers. The findings, interpretations and conclusions are strictly those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of UNDP or United Nations Member States. Moreover, the data may not be consistent with that presented in the African Human Development Report.
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, Nov 1, 2007
This paper uses Sen's capability approach to explore whether there are inherent contradictions be... more This paper uses Sen's capability approach to explore whether there are inherent contradictions between human rights and development. Sen's capability and human development approach provides a conceptual framework within which human rights principles can be incorporated into development planning and action because his theory of development as capability expansion defines the ultimate purpose of development as the expansion of human freedom). The 'human rights based approach' has gained momentum as an idea and is being adopted by several international NGOs and donor agencies in their development work. Yet many development practitioners and economists remain sceptical of this approach and its implementation has been partial. To assess the spread of this approach in government policy, the paper analysed Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers for 55 countries and finds only a few substantially engages with human rights as a development objective or integrate human rights principles into development strategies. The paper reviews the theoretical critiques and concludes that the obstacles to further implementation do not lie with inherent contradictions between human rights principles and development but with gaps in practical approaches. In particular, it identifies interpretation of the principle of indivisibility as a major obstacle; the absolutist interpretation leads to positions that amount to little more than sloganeering that undermines the credibility of the approach. More work is needed to analyse norms of human rights that relate to the duty bearer to promote human rights in development in economic, social and governance policies.
Routledge eBooks, Sep 13, 2013
Amartya Sen’s ideas constitute the core principles of a development approach that has evolved in ... more Amartya Sen’s ideas constitute the core principles of a development approach that has evolved in the Human Development Reports. This approach is a ‘‘para-digm’ ’ based on the concept of well-being that can help define public policy, but does not embody a set of prescriptions. The current movement from an age of development planning to an age of globalization has meant an increasing atten-tion to agency aspects of development. While earlier Human Development Re-ports emphasized measures such as the provision of public services, recent ones have focused more on people’s political empowerment. This paper reflects on Sen’s work in light of this shift in emphasis. Gender analysis has been central to the development of the new agency-driven paradigm, and gender equity is a core concern. A gender perspective has also helped highlight important aspects of this paradigm, such as the role of collective agency in promoting development.
International Journal, 2005
HUMAN INSECURITY IN A GLOBAL WORLD Edited by Lincoln Chen, Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, and Ellen Seidenst... more HUMAN INSECURITY IN A GLOBAL WORLD Edited by Lincoln Chen, Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, and Ellen Seidensticker Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Global Equity Initiative-Asia Center/Harvard University Press, 2004. xviii, 278pp, US$29.95 paper (ISBN 0-674-01454-5)Human Insecurity in a Global World is an interesting attempt to give clarity to a vague and fuzzy concept. The book's key features include a broad application of the concept to a variety of cases, expanding empirical support for evaluating successful applications of human security frameworks in the policy domain and a more refined theoretical framework for understanding the impact of globalization on human development. The book's premise is that global forces and the interdependence of issues including economic liberalization and growth have generated unforeseen and potentially unmanageable threats to individual security. These threats are largely defined in economic and human development terms though other important elements such as global health, the environment, gender, and human trafficking are also considered.There are II chapters in all, comprising two excellent overview chapters by the book's editors and Sabrina Alkire; the application of public goods theory to an understanding of international collaboration on human security by Fen Hampson and Mark Zacher; an analysis of inequality and global mobility by Robert Bach; a chapter on human trafficking by Michelle Clark; a chapter on sustainable development by Sanjeev Khagram, William Clark, and Dana Raad; a chapter on human security and working women by Tony Vaux and Francie Lund; a chapter on international financial institutions by Stephany Griffith-Jones and Jenney Kimmis; a chapter on global health by Lincoln Chen and Vasant Narasimhan; a chapter on infectious diseases by David Heymann; and a chapter on poverty and conflict by Nat Colletta.All of these chapters hit the mark insofar as they advance our understanding of how complex and difficult it is to develop coherent and sophisticated policies on human security issues. They also raise several important questions about the "value added" in using a human security lens to evaluate global problems and in generating lasting solutions to them.The first question relates to the readiness and willingness of governments to mainstream human security into their foreign and domestic policies. Thus far, efforts at government-to-government collaboration on human security policy have been modest. The human security agenda has encompassed a broad range of issues but remains at the periphery of most state's core concerns. …
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Papers by Sakiko Fukuda-Parr