The challenge of integration: the role of the right to development in rural areas

Abstract

The right to development has been fully integrated into the recognized human rights for over three decades. This expression indicates a sort of global right that defines, from a territorial perspective, a high level of fulfillment of main human rights for the benefit of a population or group of people, with a particular focus on economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCR). In this work a special attention has been given to the norms that regulate agricultural policy in Argentina, due to the wide impact that public measures for rural development can have in view of a full respect of the above mentioned rights. The ESCR are protected through international legal instruments that cover a wide range of situations related to issues such as food, social protection, access to education and cultural life, as well as the ability to engage in dignified work. In this perspective, a coherent agricultural policy, together with a long-term strategic vision, can play a fundamental role in ensuring concretely the right to development of rural areas and, more generally, of disadvantaged areas of the country.