Zimbabwe, a
UN member has been violating the declaration on the right of
development to which Robert Mugabe is a signatory, in a desperate
clinging to power, denying its people freedom to participate in
political and development processes as enshrined in the UN charter.In 1986, Member States of the United Nations agreed the Declaration on the Right to Development which states that:
“Development is a comprehensive economic, social, cultural and political process, which aims at the constant improvement of the well-being of the entire population and of all individuals on the basis of their active, free and meaningful participation in development and in the fair distribution of benefits resulting therefrom” (UN General Assembly, 1986).
The
essence is that political freedom is key to development; this is why countries
with strong democratic institutions like US and EU enjoy uncontested
level of development and life style, while pariah states like Zimbabwe,
majority of its citizens live in abject poverty.
Amartya Sen, the Nobel Laureate development economist offers a politically sensitised definition, the difference between a prosperous Zimbabwe and one of Robert Mugabe’s, in his 1999 book Development as Freedom: “Development can be seen as a process of expanding the real freedoms that people enjoy” (Sen, 1999). To enjoy freedom the right conditions need to be created in which people can acquire a range of capabilities – abilities, practical skills and life-skills – that enable them, once these are acquired, to exercise their agency (that is, their capacity to act). This also requires having the material means along with a framework of laws and rights that enable them to exercise their capabilities, without fear or interference. Thus for Sen, human development is about agency in one’s life that is facilitated through better education, health, financial resources, and democracy.
Hence in this important lesson, I alluded to a Zimbabwe solution to development.
We are moving aware from political castigation to offering solutions as we prepare for a post Mugabe era.
Amartya Sen, the Nobel Laureate development economist offers a politically sensitised definition, the difference between a prosperous Zimbabwe and one of Robert Mugabe’s, in his 1999 book Development as Freedom: “Development can be seen as a process of expanding the real freedoms that people enjoy” (Sen, 1999). To enjoy freedom the right conditions need to be created in which people can acquire a range of capabilities – abilities, practical skills and life-skills – that enable them, once these are acquired, to exercise their agency (that is, their capacity to act). This also requires having the material means along with a framework of laws and rights that enable them to exercise their capabilities, without fear or interference. Thus for Sen, human development is about agency in one’s life that is facilitated through better education, health, financial resources, and democracy.
Hence in this important lesson, I alluded to a Zimbabwe solution to development.
We are moving aware from political castigation to offering solutions as we prepare for a post Mugabe era.
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