Conceptual Constructions: The Right to Peace and the Right to Development

Abstract

The conceptual construction of the right to peace in International Law has antecedents in successive initiatives taken, in distinct contexts at international level, along the XXth century. The antecedents of the right to peace also comprise the long-standing tradition of UNESCO of sponsoring studies to foster a culture of peace. The right to peace was duly inserted into the framework of human rights, which was taken into account to assert peace as a right and a duty. The right to development reinforces existing rights, and renders it unwarranted to invoke so-called requirements of material development in order to try to justify restrictions to the exercise of guaranteed human rights. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) started working on the elaboration of the concept of human development, in the framework of a reassessment of the guidelines of the three previous United Nations Decades for Development.Keywords:conceptual construction; human development; human rights; international law; right to development; right to peace; UNESCO; United Nations Development Program (UNDP)