Forty Years of the ‘Right to Development’: When Growth Excludes, Is It Still Development?

Secretary-General António Guterres (second from left) addressing the high-level segment of the General Assembly to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development. Also visible (from left to right) are Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; Khalilur Rahman, President of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly; and Chee Yoke Ling, Executive Director of the Third World Network (TWN). Credit: UN Photo/Laura Jarrielby Busani Bafana (united nations & bulawayo, zimbabwe)Friday, September 25, 2026Inter Press Service UNITED NATIONS & BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, September 25 (IPS) - World leaders have warned that the most vulnerable people have been left behind as the right to development has promised more than it has delivered, with development seemingly the preserve of the superrich and powerful. Addressing a session on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly in New York to commemorate the occasion, global leaders marked the 40th anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development with a call to do more to eliminate deep inequality resulting from uneven development in the world.The Declaration, adopted b...