RGH Video Blog – Right to Development
Click here to access the Declaration on the Right to Development
Hello and welcome to the Global Health Video Class. My name is Dr. Elvira Beracochea and I am the president and CEO of Realizing Global Health. You can find us at http://www.realizingglobalhealth.com. There, you will learn what we do, how we do it and how we may be able to help YOU! We are a global health consultant company dedicated to creating self-reliant, sustainable health systems that meet the quality standards for every patient everywhere every day.
Today, I am here to talk about rights-based approaches to global health. I’ve told you about my book ‘Rights-based Approaches to Public Health’ and we looked at how public health programs can really advance the human rights agenda- particularly the right to health, the right to development, the rights of children, the rights of women, the rights of people with disabilities, etc. It is very important that we all understand what we mean when we say “human rights legislation”. It is international legislation, to which most of our countries have been signatories, and through which we have the responsibility to find ways to fulfill, protect, and respect these rights.
Last time, I talked about General Comment 14 to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Article 12). This is a very important document that I hope you took the time to read this week with your team and you have had the chance to think about how you can apply it to your work. What is at least one thing, one little shift, a change in paradigm that you can take this year, in 2015? I am sure that will really help you advance. Think about what rights-based shift you can make that will allow you to really start making a big impact to help realize the highest standard of quality of healthcare for everyone everywhere every day.
Another important document I want to talk about is the Declaration on the Right to Development. The right to development declares a collective right. As a species, we have the duty, the responsibility and the right to development. We have to have the opportunity to participate in our development. So if you read that document—and I suggest again that you print it, read it carefully and then read it aloud with your team. Then ask yourselves: What is it, from this declaration that you can apply in 2015? Then you will see that as you working in the government, or a donor organization, or for a NGO, or in the private sector, etc. Look at the programs from the perspective of the right to development.
Again, it is a very simple document but it has so much wisdom and you will see that if we looked at some of the articles and looked at ways to apply it in our work, we would develop so much faster because we do have the knowledge and technology to save millions of lives. Now we can treat and prevent most of the diseases that affect human beings. Now is the time to find a way to make that available to everyone everywhere every day. If we expand our reach every year by 10 percent, then in 10 years we will have covered everybody.
Imagine if every year we increased by 10 percent the number of clinics that are improving how they deliver healthcare. Or if we increased the number of women that are receiving antenatal care, or the number of children that are immunized. It is progressive improvement, coordinated in a way in which that can happen. It is then we will be developing ways of addressing the right to development and the right to health of everyone everywhere every day. I want you to think about that this week. Also, I want you to think about how we can address the inequalities to include the people in the slums or hard to reach areas, minorities, or people living with stigmas. How can we make sure that their right to health and their right to development is fulfilled, protected, and respected?
Next time, we are going to continue talking about rights-based approaches—so don’t miss it! See you next time!
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