ARTICLE
From Roosevelt’s Address to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
The Issue of Development in the United Nations
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Publication date: 2016-03-31
Stosunki Międzynarodowe – International Relations 2016;52(1):9-36
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ABSTRACT
The origin, institutionalisation and evolution of international development co -
operation are related to the history of the United Nations. The UN Charter contains
numerous provisions concerning social and economic rights. Within the 70 years
of UN’s existence, they were subject to various interpretations, allowing the
organisation to adjust to the needs of states and of the international environment.
The approach to development was noticeably changing, as reflected in the subsequent
four Decades, starting with development perceived in economic terms, through social
and economic development, followed by liberal orthodoxy, which was then replaced
by the concept of sustainable development expressed in the Millennium Development
Goals and then the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. At the same time, the
right to development was taking shape; it was formulated and adopted in 1986 by
the UN General Assembly and subsequently confirmed and commonly accepted
in the concluding documents of the World Conference on Human Rights held in
Vienna in 1993 as ‘universal and inalienable right and an integral part of fundamental
human rights’. This event started the process of institutionalisation of this right, in
particular the development of instruments used to implement it. The development
and consolidation of the right to development influenced the adoption and form
of the Millennium Goals. On the other hand, the implementation of the last of the
millennium and post-millennium goals concerning international cooperation and
the obligation of development assistance is considered the prerequisite for the
realisation of all the millennium goals.