ABSTRACT
In the past decade, much academic and practical work was done to define, describe and assess the meanings and implications of rights-based approaches (RBA) to development. Much of this work shows a natural bias for critical analysis of shortcomings and negative experiences. Usually, lesser emphasis is placed on positive practice examples, as ‘good news’ is still all too often perceived as ‘no news’. However, for a balanced academic assessment of RBA practice, it is crucial to make sure that well conceived and implemented RBA work is reported and considered equally forcefully. Once documented and shared more widely, positive practice examples could become a powerful resource for promoting high quality theoretical and practice-oriented analysis of RBA work.
