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Michael Njunga MULIKITA: The Right to Development (RTD): Building Synergies between One Belt And One Road (OBOR) Initiative and Agenda 2063
February 20,2020   By:en.humanrights.cn
The Right to Development (RTD): Building Synergies between One Belt And One Road (OBOR) Initiative and Agenda 2063
Michael Njunga MULIKITA
Zambia

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Michael Njunga MULIKITA, Dean of the School of Social Science of Mulungushi University in Zamibia, is the moderator of the parallel session. (Qi Yu/ en.humanrights.cn)
 
African countries should not only embrace the One Belt and One Road Initiative, but build cooperative synergies with Agenda 2063, if they are to meaningfully give expression to the Right to Development to the peoples of Africa. Both Agenda 2063 and OBOR initiative are premised on a compassionate and inclusive vision of globalization which leaves no one behind. The paper also highlights the tendency of rich countries to coerce and intimidate developing countries into adopting human rights frameworks which aim at entrenching the political hegemony of the Advanced Western countries. The paper whilst recognizing the universality of human rights, asserts that sovereign independent countries should be left to determine their human rights priorities in line with their unique political, cultural and socio-economic specificities.
 
Developing countries located in Africa, Asia and South America, the overriding imperative should be pursuit of the right to development, because poverty is main the main human rights challenge that the majority of peoples in the developing countries have to confront. The One Belt and One Road initiative that has been promoted by the Peoples Republic of China and Africa’s grand development vision, Agenda 2063 that was adopted by the African Union in 2013find convergence in their common espousal of a world whose peoples can enjoy the right to development thereby making it possible for all peoples to live lives premised on human dignity and equality.
 
The author finalizes this introductory part of the paper by asserting that human rights notions and narratives should not be subtly used by powerful countries to interfere in the internal affairs of developing countries, particularly those on the African continent. Human rights priorities should be determined by sovereign independent countries based on what they determine to be their most pressing demands. Developing countries should resist pressures from advanced countries to force them into prioritizing certain rights at the expense of RTD.