INNOVA Research Journal 2016, Vol 1, No. 4, pp. 5-9
Introducción
After the great desolation brought about by World War I and World War II, the world
changed in many ways. After these events, people tried to find ways to help the poor people of
the world through different development approaches. However, not all these approaches have
had the same impact in the lives of these people as the Human Development Approach. This
paper will describe the Human Rights Approach and the Human Capital Approach, which are
alternate ideas about development, as well as the Human Development Approach. The author
will show the effect that the Human Development Approach has had in the world and how the
birth of this approach was a turning point in the world of development.
Human Rights Approach
The main purpose of the right-based approach is to recognize that people possess intrinsic
rights. Following the atrocities of World War II, there was a global movement whose focus was
to ensure that “the individual human being be placed under the protection of the international
community” (Tomuschat, 2012). As a result, the United Nations established many declarations in
order to protect people, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966, and the International Covenant on
Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights of 1966. The initial declaration expressly states that “all
human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” and have “the right to life, liberty
and security of person” (The Universal Declaration, 1948). The subsequent covenants specify
other rights such as the right of “self-determination” (International Covenant, 1966) and “the
enjoyment of just and favorable conditions of work” (Tomuschat, 2012).
The main limitation of the Human Rights Approach is that these rights are not
enforceable. They are meant to cover all people at an international level, but the local
governments do not always support individuals in these rights. For example, according to
¬¬¬¬the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all children should have the right to primary
education, free of charge (The Universal Declaration, 1948). However, this is not the case in
many countries of the world, and even when free education is provided, it is sometimes of such a
poor quality that it does not serve the students or communities’ needs. Additionally, even though
the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights grants “the equal right of
men and women to the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights” (Tomuschat, 2012)
there are still countries such as Saudi Arabia where women are legally required to ask permission
to leave their homes (Gender Equality, 2012). A tragic example of unprotected rights is the
demonstrators that were brutally killed in Egypt last year by the security forces of the
government (Kirkpatrick, 2011). The fact that the UN says that individuals have certain rights
does not mean that these rights will be protected for each individual around the world.
Human Capital Approach
The Washington Consensus, which was written in 1989 and consisted of policy reforms
that the majority of Washington thought would be good for Latin America, is commonly
considered the beginning of neoliberalism, also known as the human capital approach to
development. This approach focuses on markets and “considers education relevant in so far as
education creates skills and helps to acquire knowledge that serves as an investment in the
productivity of the human being as an economic production factor, that is, as a worker”
(Robeyns, 2006). Neoliberalism values economic increase above all other forms of development.
Revista de la Universidad Internacional del Ecuador. URL: https://www.uide.edu.ec/
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