ABSTRACT
The right to development is the right of all human persons everywhere, and of humanity, to realize their potential. The Declaration on the Right to Development is an explicit charter of duties for human beings everywhere to struggle to create and maintain conditions where authentic human, social and civilizational development is possible. The responsibility requires respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and duties to promote and protect an appropriate political, social and economic order for development. The rights to freedom of speech and expression, and of the mass media, have therefore to be recognized as prerequisites of the right to participation. Popular participation in governance entails some recourse to elective processes for public offices. The right to development is an accomplished juridical fact of human rights law and jurisprudence. In order to ensure that its legitimacy is not jeopardized, or its further development thwarted by critiques, primarily emanating from North America, it is necessary to examine the salient issues.
