Yesterday I wrote about the just-released UN High-Level Panel (HLP) report on post-2015 development goals. The focus of the report on global partnerships for inclusive development—extending beyond aid, to tackle the basic rules of the global economy—got me thinking about a relatively arcane but increasingly important set of rules called Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs). BITs are treaties between governments that guarantee foreign investors a number of rights, including protection against expropriation and limitations on capital controls and performance requirements, with the goal of promoting foreign investment by protecting investors from unfair and arbitrary treatment by capital-importing governments. These treaties also give private foreign investors the unique ability to bring suits against sovereign governments in binding international arbitration, called an “investor right of action.” So, are these kinds of global economic rules good or bad for inclusive development?

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Last week the UN High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda released its long anticipated report: A New Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies Through Sustainable Development. I’ve finally had time to give the long report a good read. It is an aspirational manifesto, reflecting a “new mainstream” in development thinking that departs substantially from the development thinking of the 80s, 90s, or even the 2000s.

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This series has argued that human rights and good governance are critical aspects of global development, as both an end in themselves and as a means to an end. The examination of potential human rights and governance goals, targets, and indicators for the emerging post-2015 global development framework reveals three main insights.

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In the March/April 2013 issue of Foreign Affairs, development scholar John McArthur, a former manager of the UN Millennium Project, reviews the history of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and takes stock of their progress. As he writes: Read more »

As discussed in previous blog posts in this series, good governance and human rights are central aspects of global development. Fundamental to human freedom, these objectives are both an end in themselves and a means to an end, and should be included in the post-2015 global development agenda. In this regard, guaranteeing Civil Rights, Political Rights, and Personal Security is a critical development goal.

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As discussed in previous blog posts in this series, good governance and human rights are central aspects of global development.  Fundamental to human freedom, these objectives are both an end in themselves and a means to an end, and should be included in the post-2015 global development agenda. In this regard, guaranteeing Civil Rights, Political Rights, and Personal Security is a critical development goal.

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As discussed in previous blog posts in this series, good governance and human rights are essential to human well-being, and should be included in the post-2015 global development agenda. Rule of law and access to justice are linchpins of these concepts.

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Tuesday’s blog post discussed the importance of incorporating the goal of combating discrimination and inequality into the post-2015 global development agenda. This post discusses the significance of another goal: open and accountable government for all.

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Development scholars and practitioners agree that discrimination and inequality undermine the most basic principles of human rights and socioeconomic development. Inequity and lack of opportunity harm both marginalized individuals—the very poorest, who should be the primary beneficiaries of development—as well as society at large. For example, according to the UN, the Asia Pacific region is losing $42 to $47 billion per year because of restrictions on women’s access to employment opportunities, and another $16 to $30 billion per year because of gender gaps in education.

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In the last round of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), governance and human rights issues were largely excluded, despite their critical importance to sustainable and equitable development, on the grounds that measurements for governance and human rights were too abstract and difficult to apply across borders. Yet significant scholarship over the past fifteen years makes clear that it is indeed now feasible to include well-designed targets and indicators for these issues in the emerging post-2015 global development agenda.

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