Document Library

Key Text Human Rights and State Fragility: Conceptual Foundations and Strategic Directions for State-Building

Author: Derek G. Evans
Date: 2008
Size: 49 pages (374 KB)

Access full text: available online

Summary

How can a human rights-based approach support state building in fragile states? This paper, prepared for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Denmark, presents guidance for international actors. Given the relationship between conflict and poverty, neither factor on its own can guide responses to state fragility. A human rights-based approach to state building takes context into account and focuses on ensuring protection and security, supporting democratic governance and strengthening capacity for fair access to public services.

International policies and recent development initiatives suggest that states should be structured to ensure respect for fundamental human rights. A human rights-based approach to state building involves analysing and addressing issues of social, economic and political exclusion. This emphasises the importance of processes and institutions required for democratic governance.

While human rights standards do not describe an ideal form of state structure, they do suggest criteria with structural implications. These include: holding decision-makers accountable, inclusive and fair institutions, freedom from discrimination and responding to people’s needs and aspirations. Other factors to consider in the relationship between human rights and state-building include the following:

There is considerable research linking poverty with human rights violations, violence and conflict. But there is not yet a susbstantial research base on the relationship between human rights and state fragility.
The central role of the state is to ensure that the human rights of its citizens are protected. In this way, the state has obligations as a ‘duty-bearer’ towards ‘rights-holders’.
Early UN conventions led to civil and political rights being viewed separately from economic, social and cultural rights. More recent human rights mainstreaming has brought the two fields together, recognising the interdependence and indivisibility of these rights.
After the Cold War, international peace-building efforts emerged in direct response to rising domestic conflicts in fragile regions. These have moved beyond traditional peace-keeping to include reconstruction and reconciliation. This culminated in Responsibility to Protect (R2P), a major development in human rights.
Research linking conflict and fragility with deprivation and discrimination points to the critical role of horizontal inequalities. These are systemic inequalities between culturally defined groups.

In taking a human rights-based approach to state building, international actors should focus on three key elements:

Protecting individuals and communities: This involves protecting vulnerable populations through ceasefire and demilitarisation. It also means protecting civilians from arbitrary killings, detentions, torture, rape and other assaults as well as humanitarian assistance for economically and socially marginalised groups.
Supporting democratic governance: The lack of correlation between democracy and stability has been noted, but the success of electoral processes depends on whether human rights issues are addressed. In this sense, participation in elections is a means as well as an end.
Strengthening capacity for fair access to essential public services: Without adequate analysis of exclusion and data to monitor performance, core sources of fragility cannot be addressed. Strengthening institutional capacity should reduce exclusion, contribute to the empowerment of excluded groups, emphasise anti-corruption measures and advance a culture of human rights.

Access full text: available online

Source: Evans D.G., 2008, 'Human Rights and State Fragility: Conceptual Foundations and Strategic Directions for State-Building', Report prepared for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Denmark