Draft OECD DAC Guidelines – Eligibility of Human Rights Activities for ODA
The End FGM European Network, as a member of the Human Rights and Democracy Network (HRDN), welcomes efforts to clarify the eligibility of human rights activities for ODA. However, this must start from a firm recognition that human rights are integral to development and should be strengthened, not excluded.
The Human Rights and Democracy Network is committed to the defense of human rights worldwide and to the systematic integration of human rights into development policies (human rights-based approach).
The SDGs recognise human rights and the rule of law and its indicators include specific human rights elements. In this respect, we wish to share our serious concerns about the draft guidelines on the eligibility of human rights activities for Official Development Assistance (ODA), proposed by the OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC).
We welcome the initiative to clarify the eligibility of human rights activities for ODA. However, the starting point of any such attempt must be the recognition of human rights in development with an aim of strengthening human rights rather than seeking its exclusion from the development agenda. In the current version of the draft, there is what we consider to be an unacceptable division between “developmental” objectives and the so-called “moral and legal” motivation of human rights activities, which paradoxically calls into question their universality and indivisibility - principles which the DAC also recognises in these draft guidelines. This artificial distinction runs counter to the SDG principles and its indicators.