ABSTRACT
Whether human rights and development converge or persist as parallel tracks, both conceptually and in practice, remains an issue of debate (Brahmbhatt and Canuto, 2011; contra McInerney-Lankford, 2009). 1 This chapter is to be seen against the backdrop of that larger debate, while not directly engaging with it. It seeks to explore whether and how organisational efforts to introduce and operationalise a human rights-based approach (HRBA) to development have had an impact on United Nations organisations, and indirectly on development and human rights on the ground. While the UN’s volume of aid flows is relatively small, it is generally thought of as having greater influence than that volume, ‘due to its strong technical advice, ability to act as a broker between other partners and the level of trust ascribed to it by governments, compared to bilaterals and some other multilaterals’ (Longhurst, 2006: 5).
