Human rights-based approaches to development cooperation, HIV/AIDS, and food security

Human Rights Quarterly

Volumn 29, Issue 2, 2007, Pages 460-488

  Sarelin, Alessandra Lundström ^a  

^a ÅBO AKADEMI UNIVERSITY   (Finland)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ACQUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME; DEVELOPMENT CONSTRAINT; FOOD SECURITY; HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS; HUMAN RIGHTS; UNITED NATIONS;

AFRICA; EAST AFRICA; MALAWI; SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA;

EID: 34249945938     PISSN: 02750392     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/hrq.2007.0022     Document Type: Article

References (178)

1. This is the case in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa is highly varied, both between and within sub-regions. However, the figure indicating that this region is home to more than 60 percent of all people (some 23.4-28.4 million) living with HIV in the world is revealing: The epidemic has a tremendous effect on all aspects of society. HIV/AIDS has been called a state of emergency. UN General Assembly Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, Global Crisis - Global Action, adopted 25-27 June 2001, G.A. 26th Special Sess., ¶8, available at http://www.un.org/ga/aids/coverage/ FinalDeclarationHIVAIDS.html.
2. For more facts and figures on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa, see UNAIDS, AIDS Epidemic Update (Dec. 2004).
3. The author distinguishes between the over-arching concept of human rights-based approach to development and human rights-based approach to development cooperation. The latter is more than a normative approach to development; it sets out to guide development efforts carried out by development agencies, multi- or bilateral donors or nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and is a practical tool to be used in all aspects and all phases of a development cooperation project or program (i.e., analysis and assessment, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation). In the following focus is on human rights-based development practices for analysis and assessment and design of development cooperation efforts.
4. "Mitigation efforts" aim at reducing the economic and social consequences of the HIV/AIDS pandemic through helping families and communities affected by HIV/AIDS creating coping strategies. It should however be noted that there are no clear-cut lines between HIV prevention, treatment and care, and impact mitigation. Food security issues are, or at least should be, relevant in all kind of responses to the AIDS epidemic. See Michael Loevinsohn & Stuart Gillespie, HIV/ AIDS, Food Security, and Rural Livelihoods: Understanding and Responding INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE, DISCUSSION PAPER No. 157 (2003).
5. Moreover, it should be noted that food security concerns are always relevant in high-prevalence areas. Many development agencies, bilateral donors and NGOs aim at mainstreaming HIV/AIDS throughout their programs in the area of agriculture, skills training and microfinance instead of targeting "people with AIDS" (which might be difficult for many reasons, beginning with the fact that most people do not know their serostatus). See Scott Drimie & Dan Mullins, Mainstreaming HIV and AIDS into Livelihoods and Food Security Programs: The Experience of CARE Malawi, paper presented at the International Conference on HIV/AIDS and Food and Nutrition Security in Durban, South Africa (14-16 Apr. 2005).
6. UNAIDS, 2004 REPORT ON THE GLOBAL AIDS EPIDEMIC 8 (2004), available at http://www.eldis.org/static/DOC15184.htm.
7. The term "food security" refers to accessibility and availability of food in a given region or in the household and it is widely used in literature and by expert bodies and intergovernmental organizations such as FAO). The author uses the term in this article but is aware of the fact that it is not synonymous with "the right to food." For arguments that "food security" can serve to distract from a human rights-based approach, see Fons Coomans, A Framework Law on the Right to Food - An International and South African Perspective, 4 AFR. HUM. RTS. L.J. 17, 32 (2004).
8. Sustainable Development Department of FAO, Strategic Approaches to HIV Prevention and AIDS Mitigation in Rural Communities and Households in Sub-Saharan Africa 2 (2001), available at http://www.fao.org/sd/ dim_en2/2001/kn0402a_en.htm.
9. See, e.g., Loevinsohn & Gillespie, supra note 3, at 11.
10. Douglas Webb & Stefan Paquette, The Potential Role of Food Aid in Mitigating the Impacts of HIV/AIDS: The Case of Zambia, 10 DEVELOPMENT IN PRACTICE 694, 696 (2000);
11. Loevinsohn & Gillespie, supra note 3, at 17.
12. TONY BARNETT & ALAN WHITESIDE, AIDS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY: DISEASE AND GLOBALIZATION 223 (2002).
13. UNAIDS, Fact Sheet: HIV/AIDS and Food Security, 2003. Agriculture accounts only for four percent of value added to global domestic product, but is still immensely important for community and household food security. See BARNETT & WHITESIDE, supra note 9, at 222.
14. The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights has declared that "the HIV/AIDS pandemic is a human rights issue which is a threat against humanity." See Resolution on HIV/AIDS Pandemic - Threat against Human Rights and Humanity, Tripoli (7 May 2001).
15. DAVID P. FIDLER, INTERNATIONAL LAW AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES 209 (1999).
16. For an example of civil and political rights related issues raised in the HIV/AIDS context, see George J. Annas, The Impact of Health Policies on Human Rights: AIDS and TB Control, in HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTS: A READER 37 (Jonathan M. Mann, Sofia Gruskin, et al. eds., 1999).
17. Mark Heywood & Dennis Altman, Confronting AIDS: Human Rights, Law, and Social Transformation, 5 HEALTH & HUM. RTS. 149, 155-56 (2000).
18. For criticism that the human rights approach e.g. in the International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights is reinforcing the separation between civil and political rights from economic, social and cultural rights, see id. at 157, 166.
19. Jonathan M. Mann, et al. eds., Human Rights and AIDS: The Future of the Pandemic, in HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTS, supra note 12, at 222.
20. Id. at 223.
21. UNAIDS, Revised Guideline 6: Access to Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support 13-14 (2002), available at http://data.unaids.org/ publications/irc-pub02/jc905-guideline6_en.pdf.
22. Id. at 16.
23. The UN General Assembly Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS Global Crisis - Global Action, supra note 1, deserves special mention.
24. See also WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, HEALTH21: THE HEALTH FOR ALL POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR THE WHO EUROPEAN REGION (1999), available at www.euro.who.int/document/health21/wa540ga199heeng.pdf;
25. UNITED NATIONS POPULATIONS FUND (UNFPA), KEY ACTIONS FOR THE FURTHER IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAMME OF ACTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT (30 June-2 July 1999), available at http://www.unfpa.org/upload/lib_pub_file/ 561_filename_icpd5-key-04reprint_eng.pdf.
26. UNITED NATIONS, MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS REPORT (2006), available at http://unstats. un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Static/ Products/Progress2006/MDGReport2006.pdf.
27. For an in-depth analysis of the MDGs from a human rights perspective see Philip Alston, Ships Passing in the Night: The Current State of the Human Rights and Development Debate Seen Through the Lens of the Millennium Development Goals, 27 HUM. RTS. Q. 755, 774 (2005).
28. On the issue of claiming that all development assistance contributes to human rights, see Peter Uvin, On Moral High Ground: The Incorporation of Human Rights by the Development Enterprise, XVII PRAXIS THE FLETCHER J. OF DEV. STUD. 1 (2002).
29. The Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health, U.N. GAOR, 59th Sess., ¶¶ 22-23, U.N. Doc. A/59/422,(8 Oct. 2004).
30. Such disaggregated data is however, most often not available. See, e.g., MALAWI, MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS REPORT 2003, available at http://www.undg.org/documents/ 5547-Malawi_MDG_Report.pdf.
31. CONST. OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORG., ¶2, available at http://www.opbw.org/int_inst/health_docs/WHO-CONSTITUTION.pdf.
32. Sofia Gruskin & Daniel Tarantola, Health and Human Rights, Fran(ois-Xavier Bagnoud Center Working Paper No. 10, at 6, 7 (2000).
33. For a discussion on the definition of health, see BRIGIT TOEBEs, THE RIGHT TO HEALTH AS A HUMAN RIGHT IN INTERNATIONAL LAW 21-25 (1999).
34. Brigit Toebes, The Right to Health, in ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS: A TEXTBOOK 169, 174 (Asbjørn Eide, Catarina Crause, & Allan Rosas eds., Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2d ed. 2001).
35. Heywood & Altman, supra note 13, at 164.
36. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, (19 Dec. 1966) G.A. Res. 2200 (XXI) at 49, U.N. GAOR, 21st Sess., Supp. No. 16, art. 12, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (20 Sept. 1966).
37. Id. at 51, art. 12(2) The steps to be taken by the States Parties to the present Covenant to achieve the full realization of this right shall include those necessary for: (a) The provision for the reduction of the stillbirth-rate and of infant mortality and for the healthy development of the child;
38. (b) The improvement of all aspects of environmental and industrial hygiene;
39. (c) The prevention, treatment and control of epidemic, endemic, occupational and other diseases;
40. (d) The creation of conditions which would assure to all medical service and medical attention in the event of sickness.
41. General Comment on the Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health, General Comment No. 14, ¶ ¶4, 11, 43,
42. U.N. Doc. E/C.12/2000/4 (2000).
43. Id. ¶43.
44. For a discussion on core obligations related to the right to health, see Audrey R. Chapman, Core Obligations Related to the Right to Health, in CORE OBLIGATIONS: BUILDING A FRAMEWORK FOR ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS 187 (Audrey Chapman & Sage Russell eds., 2002).
45. For rare instances, see Concluding Comment on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, ¶43, U.N. Doc. E/C.12/1/Add. 95 (2003);
46. Poland, ¶17, U.N. Doc. E/C.12/1/Add.26 (1998).
47. For similar statements by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, see Concluding Comment on Ukraine, ¶51, U.N. Doc. CRC/C/15/Add. 191 (2002);
48. Concluding Comment on Paraguay, ¶37, U.N. Doc. CRC/C/15/Add. 166 (2002).
49. Concluding Comment on Ukraine, ¶31, U.N. Doc. E/C.12/1/Add.65 (2001);
50. Algeria, ¶39, U.N. Doc. E/C.12/1/Add.71 (2001);
51. Chile, ¶55, U.N. Doc. E/C.12/1/Add.105 (2004);
52. Dominican Republic, ¶44, U.N. Doc. E/C.12/1/Add.16 (1997).
53. Concluding Comment on Zambia, ¶30, U.N. Doc. E/C.12/1/Add.106 (2005).
54. See also Concluding Comment on Yemen, ¶21, U.N. Doc. E/C.12/1/Add. 92 (2003).
55. General Recommendation on Women and Health, General Recommendation No. 24, ¶7, U.N. Doc, A/54/38/Rev. 1, ch. 1 (1999).
56. Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted 20 Nov. 1989, G.A. Res. 44/25, U.N. GAOR, 44th Sess., Supp. No. 49, at 167, U.N. Doc. A/44/ 49 (1989) (entered into force 2 Sept. 1990), reprinted in 28 I.L.M. 1448 (1989).
57. Id. art. 24(2c).
58. African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, art. 16., adopted 27 June 1981, O.A.U. Doc. CAB/LEG/67/3 Rev. 5 (entered into force 21 Oct. 1986), reprinted in 21 I.L.M. 58 (1982).
59. Communication 155/96, African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, 30th Ordinary Session (Oct. 2001).
60. African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, supra note 38, art. 16(2) reads: "State Parties . . . shall take the necessary measures to protect the health of their people." Article 24 of the African Charter is relevant: "All peoples shall have the right to a general satisfactory environment favourable to their development."
61. Communication 155/96, ¶64. For a thorough analysis of the Ogoni case, see e.g. Oladejo Justus Olowu, Implementing Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Africa: An Integrative Rights-Based Approach to Human Development, (Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Notre Dame Law School, Indiana, USA, 2004);
62. Fons Coomans, The Ogoni Case Before the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, 52 INT'L & COMP. L. Q. 749 (July 2003).
63. See General Comment No. 14, supra note 30, ¶30;
64. General Comment on the Nature of States Parties Obligations, General Comment No. 3, at 9, ¶130, U.N. Doc. E/1991/23, ¶9 (1990).
65. Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, Implementing Economic, Social and Cultural Rights under the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, in THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES' RIGHTS: THE SYSTEM IN PRACTICE, 1986-2000, at 178, 196 (Malcom Evans & Rachel Murray eds., 2002).
66. See also Nana K.A. Busia Jr. & Bibiane G. Mbaye, Filing Communications on Economic and Social Rights under the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (The Banjul Charter), 3 EAST AFRICAN J. PEACE & HUM. RTS. 188, 192 (1997).
67. General Comment No. 14, supra note 30, ¶33;
68. see also General Comment No. 3, supra note 42, ¶43.
69. For an elaboration on these highly interrelated criteria, see General Comment No. 14, supra note 31, ¶12. See also Paul Hunt, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, Comm'n. on Human Rights, ¶41 U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/2004/49 (2004).
70. General Comment No. 14, supra note 30, ¶ ¶33, 36.
71. Id. ¶ ¶51, 63.
72. See also Olowu, supra note 41, at 50.
73. Communication 155/96, ¶44.
74. Chapman, supra note 31, at 189.
75. United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Draft Guidelines: A Human Rights Approach to Poverty Reduction Strategies 34 (2002), available at http://www.unhchr.ch/ development/povertyfinal.html.
76. Olowu, supra note 41, at 250.
77. Id. at 384-85.
78. On the state of democratization, Overseas Development Institute writes that "Malawi has a hybrid, 'neopatrimonial' state, where there is a legal framework of formal law and administration but the state is informally captured by patronage networks." OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE, DRIVERS OF CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT IN MALAWI, at viii (Jan. 2006).
79. Poverty is a complex issue that is difficult to analyze and measure. The author would however like to refer to the Human Development Index (HDI) as an attempt to go beyond GDP to a broader definition of well-being. HDI is based on life expectancy, adult literacy and school enrolment, and income level (purchasing power parity). The HDI for Malawi is 0.400, which means Malawi ranks 166th of 177 countries with available data. HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2006, COUNTRY FACT SHEETS: MALAWI, available at http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/ statistics/countries/country_fact_streets/cty_fs_MWI.html.
80. National AIDS Commission, National HIV/AIDS Policy of the Government of Malawi (2003) (National HIV/AIDS Policy of Malawi); UNAIDS, AIDS Epidemic Update (Dec. 2004).
81. EUNICE G. KAMWENDO, REGIONAL HUNGER AND VULNERABILITY PROGRAMME (RHVP), KNOWLEDGE REVIEW AND GAP ANALYSIS REPORT: HUNGER AND VULNERABILITY IN MALAWI 7 (July 2006), available at http:// www.wahenga.net/uploads/files/reports/KRGA_Malawi.pdf.
82. See MEERA KAUL SHAH, NICK OSBORNE ET AL., CARE INTERNATIONAL IN MALAWI, IMPACT OF HIV/AIDS ON AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY AND RURAL LIVELIHOODS IN THE CENTRAL REGION OF MALAWI 17 (2002). This is changing slowly. During field research in 2006, the present author's experience was that HIV/AIDS was openly discussed.
83. DEBORAH FAHY BRYCESON, JODIE FONSECA & JOHN KADZANDIRA, SOCIAL PATHWAYS FROM THE HIV/AIDS DEADLOCK OF DISEASE, DENIAL AND DESPERATION IN RURAL MALAWI 59, 29 (May 2004), available at http://www.ifpri.org/renewal/pdf/CAREMalawi.pdf.
84. REPUBLIC OF MALAWI, NATIONAL STATISTICAL OFFICE, INTEGRATED HOUSEHOLD SURVEY 2004-2005, 95 (Oct 2005), available at http://www.nso.malawi.net/data_on_line/economics/ihs/IHS2/ IHS2_Report.pdf.
85. During the one party era under President Kamuzu Banda (1966-1993), land was continuously transferred from customary ownership to private tenure for the estate sector, the result being declining size in land holdings. LOUIS A.H. MSUKWA, FOOD POLICY AND PRODUCTION: TOWARDS INCREASED FOOD SECURITY 5 (Mar 1994).
86. UNITED NATIONS, COMMON COUNTRY ASSESSMENT OF MALAWI 8 (Mar. 2001) available at http://www.undg.org/documents/ 1676-Malawi_CCA_-_Malawi_2001.pdf.
87. See also KAMWENDO, RHVP, supra note 56, at 5.
88. The national poverty line is a subsistence minimum expressed in Malawi Kwacha and comprised of minimum food expenditure based on food requirements and critical non-food consumption. See INTEGRATED HOUSEHOLD SURVEY 2004-2005, supra note 59, at 138-39.
89. See also REPUBLIC OF MALAWI, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY, FOOD SECURITY POLICY 4 (Aug. 2006).
90. Kamwendo, RHVP, supra note 56, at 1.
91. Even when there is an exceptionally good harvest, as was the case in 2006, there were over 800 000 people in need of food aid. See UNITED NATIONS, MALAWI HUMANITARIAN SITUATION REPORT 1 (Jul. 2006), available at http://www.undp.org.mw/reports/Sit_reports/ UN_SitRep01Aug2006.pdf.
92. For a short overview of the political history of Malawi, see HARRI ENGLUND, PRISONERS OF FREEDOM: HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE AFRICAN POOR 13-18 (2006);
93. Harri Englund, Introduction to DEMOCRACY OF CHAMELEONS: POLITICS AND CULTURE IN THE NEW MALAWI 11-24 (Harri Englund ed., 2002).
94. Malawi has ratified ICESCR (in 1994), CRC (in 1991), CEDAW (in 1987) as well as the African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights (in 1989). The Committee on the Rights of the Child has expressed deep concern at the high incidence and increasing prevalence of HIV/AIDS amongst adults and children and the increasing number of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. The Committee has recommended the state party to "[u]rgently consider ways of minimizing the impact upon children of the HIV/AIDS-related deaths of parents, teachers and others." See Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child: Malawi, U.N. Doc. CRC/C/15/Add.174, ¶ ¶47-48 (2002).
95. Constitution of the Republic of Malawi, 1995, as amended, art. 30(4).
96. Id. art. 30(2). Emphasis added by the author.
97. It should, however, be noted that in many developing countries with limited capacity and resources to make policy, donors have taken this role, substituting for the state in its policy function. In the ODI report Drives of Change and Development in Malawi, it is said that the government of Malawi has very little capacity to make policy. Donors have responded by increasingly stepping into the shoes of the government, making policies for it. See ODI, DRIVERS OF CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT IN MALAWI, supra note 53, at x.
98. National HIV/AIDS Policy of Malawi, supra note 55.
99. Id. at 2-3.
100. Id. at 5, 15-17, 33.
101. SIDA, The Impact of HIV/AIDS on the Economy, Livelihoods and Poverty of Malawi, SIDA Country Economic Report, 124 (2006:1).
102. Gov't of Malawi, The National HIV/AIDS Strategic Framework, 2 (2000-2004).
103. SIDA, The Impact of HIV/AIDS on the Economy, supra note 72, at 124-25.
104. Mitigation efforts are largely in the hands of NGOs, see Joanna White & John Morton, Mitigating Impacts of HIV/AIDS on Rural Livelihoods: NGO Experiences in Sub-Saharan Africa, 15 DEVELOPMENT IN PRACTICE, 186 (2005).
105. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Frequently Asked Questions on a Human Rights-Based Approach to Development Cooperation, 23 (2006), available at http:// huachen.org/english/about/publications/docs/FAQ_en.pdf.
106. See also ANDRE FRANKOVITS & PATRICK EARLE, THE RIGHTS WAY TO DEVELOPMENT: A HUMAN RIGHTS APPROACH TO DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE 4, 11 (1995).
107. For a review of different methodologies associated with human rights-based approaches see Celestine Nyamu-Musembi & Andrea Cornwall, What is the "Rights-Based Approach" all about? Perspectives from International Development Agencies, Institute of Development Studies (IDS) Working Paper 234 (2004) available at http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/ev.php-URL_ID=8302&URL_DO= DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html.
108. The Human Rights Based Approach to Development Cooperation: Towards a Common Understanding Among UN Agencies, Inter-Agency Workshop on a human based approach in the context of UN reform (3-5 May 2003), available at http://www.inwent.org/ef-texte/human_rights/silva.htm (hereinafter Common Understanding Among UN Agencies).
109. Id. at 2.
110. As pointed out by Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark during the research training course, "Human Rights, Democracy and Constitutionalism," Copenhagen (May 2006) Itinerary available at http://www.abo.fi/instut/imr/norfa/events/ Nordic_Research_Training_Course_Programme.doc it is not clear exactly what the content of these "human rights principles" is in law in general and in human rights law in particular. This is however not the main concern among development organizations attempting to operationalize HRBA into a concrete and practical tool to be used in development cooperation programs. The present author underlines that "human rights principles," as used in HRBA, does not necessarily correspond to the understanding of the term by international treaty monitoring bodies.
111. On the issue of conceptual change that the development discourse, through HRBA, brings into the human rights discourse, see Paul Gready & Jonathan Ensor, Introduction, in REINVENTING DEVELOPMENT? TRANSLATING RIGHTS-BASED APPROACHES FROM THEORY INTO PRACTICE 1, 12, 14 (Paul Gready & Jonathan Enson eds., 2005).
112. A conservative, legal, state-centric understanding of human rights does not assist in the pursuit of social justice. Gready and Ensor even argue that "[n]ot only are human rights possibly reinventing development, but development has the potential to reinvent human rights."
113. Id. at 14.
114. See PETER UVIN, HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT 123 (2004 ).
115. See, e.g., URBAN JONSSON, HUMAN RIGHTS APPROACH TO DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMING 35 (2003).
116. FRANKOVITS & EARLE, supra note 75, at 5.
117. Joachim Theis, Rights-Based Analysis and Planning, in PROMOTING RIGHTS-BASED APPROACHES 79, 85 (2004).
118. Loevinsohn & Gillespie, supra note 3, at 35.
119. The African Charter for Popular Participation in Development and Transformation (Arusha 1990), available at http://www.afrimap.org/ english/images/treaty/file4239ac8e921ed.pdf, refers to participation as follows: "popular participation is, in essence, the empowerment of the people to effectively involve themselves in creating the structures and in designing policies and programs that serve the interests of all as well as effectively contribute to the development process and share equitably the benefits."
120. BRITHA MIKKELSEN, METHODS FOR DEVELOPMENT WORK AND RESEARCH 53 (2005).
121. Frankovits & Earle, supra note 75, at 39.
122. See also Equal in Rights: What is the Human Rights based Approach to Development?, available at www.equalinrights.org/content/ hrba_approach.html.
123. Lisa VeneKlasen, Valerie Miller et al., Rights-Based Approaches and Beyond: Challenges of Linking Rights and Participation, Institute of Development Studies, Working Paper 235, at 9 (2004);
124. ACORD TANZANIA, MAINSTREAMING HIV/AIDS USING A COMMUNITY-LED RIGHTS-BASED APPROACH 35 (2003).
125. UVIN, HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT, supra note 81, at 131.
126. Amparo Tomas, Reforms that Benefit Poor People - Practical Solutions and Dilemmas of Rights-Based Approaches to Legal and Justice Reform, in REINVENTING DEVELOPMENT?, supra note 80, at 173.
127. UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (UNDP), HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2000: HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 21 (2000).
128. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Frequently Asked Questions, supra note 75, at 3.
129. Emma Harris-Curtis, Oscar Marleyn, & Oliver Bakewell, The Implications for Northern NGOs Adopting Rights-Based Approaches, INTRAC, Occasional Papers Series No: 41, at 10 (2005).
130. See also CARE INTERNATIONAL UK, PRINCIPLES INTO PRACTICE: LEARNING FROM INNOVATIVE RIGHTS-BASED PROGRAMS 5 (2005).
131. Common Understanding Among UN Agencies, supra note 77.
132. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Frequently Asked Questions, supra note 75, at 27.
133. See, e.g., Webb & Paquette, supra note 8, at 699.
134. Participatory research methods are by no means unique to HRBA. See MIKKELSEN, supra note 87.
135. Susan Igras, Jacinta Muteshi et al., Integrating Rights-Based Approaches into Community-Based Health Projects: Experiences from the Prevention of Female Genital Cutting Project in East Africa, 7 HEALTH & HUM. RTS. 251, 259 (2004).
136. SHAH, OSBORNE ET AL., supra notes 57, at 13-14.
137. JONSSON, supra note 82, at 96.
138. SHAH, OSBORNE ET AL., supra note 57, at 17 (list of limitations and constraints).
139. See MIKKELSEN, supra note 87, at 208.
140. SHAH, OSBORNE ET AL., supra note 57, at 24 (list of limitations and constraints).
141. Id. at 44, 49.
142. Id. at 41-43.
143. Id. at 41.
144. Id. at 64. In the patrilocal villages the wife moves to her husband's village upon getting married. If the husband dies, the widow is expected to leave the village in about one year. The land goes to the husband's relatives and the children usually leave with their mother.
145. See id. at 20-21.
146. JONSSON, supra note 82, at 82-84.
147. Malawi is divided into twenty-seven districts. Each district is sub-divided into traditional authorities headed by chiefs and covering a number of villages. See COMMON COUNTRY ASSESSMENT OF MALAWI, supra note 61, at 6.
148. JONSSON, supra note 82, at 90.
149. For other similar questions see Frankovits & Earle, supra note 75, at 88. See also UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (UNDP), INDICATORS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS BASED APPROACHES TO DEVELOPMENT IN UNDP PROGRAMMING: A USERS' GUIDE 6, 14 (2006) available at http://www.undp.org/governance/docs/HR_guides_HRBA_Indicators.pdf.
150. The CARE study does not specify what is meant by "staff attitudes." In a human rights-based analysis questions concerning discriminatory attitudes against people living with HIV would be raised.
151. SHAH, OSBORNE ET AL., supra note 57, at 67-68.
152. Theis, supra note 84, at 80.
153. JONSSON, supra note 82, at 103.
154. SHAH, OSBORNE ET AL., supra note 57, at 78-79.
155. It would be important to especially highlight that extension workers should meet with female farmers. Today the situation is that women have limited access to agricultural extension, training and inputs, even though 70 percent of the agricultural labor force are women. See Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, supra note 62, at 89.
156. SHAH, OSBORNE ET AL., supra note 57, at 83.
157. On the state of government support, see Kamwendo, RHVP, supra note 56.
158. For the current land policy in Malawi, see GOV'T OF THE REPUBLIC OF MALAWI, MALAWI NATIONAL LAND POLICY (Jan. 2002) available at http://www.malawi.gov.mw/publications/landpol.htm. See also Blessings Chinsinga, The Politics of Poverty Alleviation in Malawi: A Critical Review, in A DEMOCRACY OF CHAMELEONS, supra note 64, at 37-39. According to Chinsinga the land policy correctly recognizes the extent of land problems in the country, but is virtually silent on radical strategies that could rectify the problems. The way the land question has so far been handled does not indicate the government's commitment to redefine land rights in favor of those who have a small amount of land or who are virtually landless.
159. SHAH, OSBORNE ET AL., supra note 57, at 79-81.
160. Id. at 81.
161. Id. at 82.
162. In some villages there are Village AIDS Committees providing home-based care and helping orphans, widows and old people following AIDS deaths. See BRYCESON, FONSECA & KADZANDIRA, supra note 58, at 37.
163. SHAH, OSBORNE ET AL., supra note 57, at 82.
164. See Jacques du Guerny & Elisabeth Sjöberg, Interrelation Between Gender Relations and HIV/AIDS Epidemic: Some Possible Considerations for Policies and Programs, in HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTS, supra note 12, at 202. For similar considerations see OPERATIONAL GUIDE ON GENDER & HIV/AIDS: A RIGHTS-BASED APPROACH, PREPARED FOR THE UNAIDS INTERAGENCY TASK TEAM ON GENDER AND HIV/AIDS (2005), available at www.genderandaids.org/ downloads/events/Operational%20Guide.pdf.
165. Encouraging community members to take a lead in their own development can naturally contribute to empowerment, but one should be careful with attempts to identify both the source of and the solution to poverty within the community. See ENGLUND, PRISONERS OF FREEDOM, supra note 64, at 102.
166. SHAH, OSBORNE ET AL., supra note 57, at 85-86.
167. ACORD TANZANIA, supra note 89, at 22-25.
168. UVIN, HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT, supra note 81, at 3, 130.
169. See also Theis, supra note 84, at 82-83.
170. UVIN,HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT, supra note 81, at 135;
171. Caroline Moser & Andy Norton, TO CLAIM OUR RIGHTS: LIVELIHOOD SECURITY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 10 (2001);
172. Nyamu-Musembi & Cornwall, supra note 76, at 11. Nyamu-Musembi and Cornwall even argue that the turn to a rights discourse at the end of the 1990s was a way of re-politicizing an approach to development that had turned instrumentalist.
173. General Introduction: Context and Challenges for Combining Methods in Development Research, in METHODS IN DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH: COMBINING QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE APPROACHES 1, 16 (2005).
174. Dennis Altman, Rights Matter: Structural Interventions and Vulnerable Communities, 8 HEALTH & HUM. RTS. 203, 212 (2005).
175. Peris Sean Jones, On a Never-Ending Waiting List: Toward Equitable Access to Anti-Retroviral Treatment? Experiences from Zambia, 8 HEALTH & HUM. RTS 77, 79 (2005).
176. Compare with strategy in CARE document, A Rights-Based Analysis of the Root Causes of Economic Insecurity in Rwanda's Gikongoro Province: Application of the Causal-Responsibility Analysis Tool, CARE Rwanda Case Study (2004).
177. For an analysis of how the organizational capacity of the poor can be successfully supported through promoting collective action and solidarity, see Naila Kabeer, Making Rights Work for the Poor: Nijera Kori and the Construction of "Collective Capabilities" in Rural Bangladesh, Institute of Development Studies, IDS Working Paper 200 (2003).
178. For a similar point, see UVIN, HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT, supra note 81, at 53.