International Development Law Organization

Justice is the core of development

‘Development for a very long time was seen as measuring health, jobs, education etc. - the famous Millennium Development Goals. But citizens around the world were demanding something else, they were saying that development wasn’t getting to them ….. Some people were progressing but many people were being left behind,’ IDLO’s Director General, Irene Khan, told participants at a UN General Assembly side-event on ‘The Power of SDGs to Achieve Prosperity for All’.

‘This is why the SDGs have made a paradigm shift,’ she continued, through the realization that ‘the enabler for development is actually justice, good governance, peaceful societies, security and equality. These things require rights, laws, institutions ….. key ingredients in the development scenario … so often forgotten.’

‘We have found that if you want development to touch the bottom billion, you have to look at these systems of laws, rights and governance ….. not only courts that function well, but rather courts that deliver justice. Justice is the core of development. And this is why we think the SDGs deliver something really transforming and that is bringing the rule of law and access to justice as a goal into the development discussion,’ Ms. Khan concluded.

The 2016 Global Action Leadership Forum, co-hosted by the Global Action Platform, IDLO and other partners, explored ‘scalable, sustainable solutions for abundant food, health and prosperity’.

Speakers included Thomas Gass, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Mario de Leon Jr, Consul General of the Philippines who opened the event, and also Scott T Massey from Global Action Platform, Jon Clifton - Gallup, Trevor Davies - KPMG, Regina Lopez – the Philippines’ government, Ryan Doyle – oneC1TY-Nashville, and Tom Stiles – KPMG.