In late May 2012, the Danish parliament unanimously endorsed the new strategy for Denmark’s development cooperation, “The Right to a Better Life” and – also unanimously – adopted a new Act on International Development Cooperation.  Together, the act and the strategy will be a strong foundation for an effective Danish development cooperation geared to meet the development challenges and opportunities of the future. 

The strategy’s key message is that poverty must be fought through the promotion of human rights and sustainable and inclusive economic growth.  Danish development cooperation should first and foremost benefit the millions of poor women and men, girls and boys living in developing countries. It is their right to a better life the new Danish strategy aims to promote. 

A human rights-based approach
Development is essentially about promoting the human rights of the world’s poorest people and empowering them to claim their rights. International human rights are universal and form the backbone of our common global values. They can act as a driver of change, precisely because they are based on commitments made by the countries themselves.

International human rights will be at the core of Denmark’s poverty reduction efforts and the basis, or “contract”, upon which Denmark will base its development cooperation. In doing so, Denmark will pursue a human rights-based approach to development and fight for and promote all human rights. 

Civil, political, cultural, economic and social rights are universal, inalienable, interdependent and indivisible. Freedom of speech becomes more powerful if you can read and write, and children learn more at school, when they are not constantly hungry. All human rights contribute to empowering people and fighting poverty by fuelling the demand for social progress and for civil and political freedoms.

Indeed, poverty does not thrive in an environment where human rights and the rule of law are respected, protected and promoted – and where poor people are empowered to fight against poverty and exercise their rights. Human rights, democracy and development are therefore closely interconnected. Together they provide stability and a good foundation for sustainable economic growth.   

Through our development cooperation we aim to facilitate processes of change that stem from within. When we support free and democratic elections, societies built on the rule of law,  free media and a powerful civil society we therefore work to provide people with the democratic tools they need to be able to stand up for their rights and participate actively in society. 

But we do not intend to be dogmatic in applying the human rights-based approach. Not least social and economic rights can often only be achieved gradually and requires the availability of adequate capacity, resources as well as political will, but we will work for their progressive realisation. 

Economic growth must benefit poverty reduction
Fighting poverty and ensuring human rights requires years of sustained economic growth that can generate the much needed income to finance public sector reforms and help businesses grow and prosper. It is costly to improve public health care, send children to school, secure clean drinking water and build proper infrastructure.

Economic growth must also create many more jobs, not least for the youth, if we are to permanently reduce poverty. Targeting young people and promoting their opportunities is, at the same time, an important element in ensuring stability and preventing conflict. 

Many developing countries have experienced high economic growth, but have not been able to translate the high growth into social progress and increased employment. In many places growth has not been inclusive and has had limited benefits for the poor. Through its development cooperation, Denmark will therefore work actively to promote and support inclusive economic growth and employment creation. 

Promoting sustainable and green choices
The growth opportunities of today must not compromise the opportunities of future generations. Increasingly, due to population pressure and unsustainable consumption and production patterns, global natural resources are under pressure. We need to ensure more sustainable production and consumption of water, energy and other natural resources in order to be able to meet growing demands. It is a global obligation and a global opportunity.

Unsustainable production patterns have harmed the global climate and we need to be more climate smart in the future. We can support developing countries in making smart decisions and exploit the opportunities. Green growth, i.e. growth that is sustainable and creates economic opportunities while respecting the natural environment, is therefore essential. This is why promotion of a green growth that is sustainable and inclusive will be an essential part of Danish development cooperation. 

Investing in our common future
As the geopolitical and economic landscape is shifting, and new global and ever more complex challenges are emerging, the boundaries between traditional foreign policy and development policy become increasingly blurred. Development cooperation is not only an investment in a better life for poor people; it is also an investment that benefits our part of the world.

Investing in global development is not only a contribution to the fight against global challenges such as climate change, global epidemics, terrorism, financial instability and increasing and volatile prices on food, water and energy. Investing in development cooperation is also an investment in global growth and employment, also in Europe and in Denmark. 

Focusing on four strategic priority areas
To meet the complex global development challenges, Denmark will focus its development efforts on four strategic priorities which are all interlinked. We will support the promotion of human rights and democracy; work for green growth based on the sustainable use of natural resources; promote social progress through equal access to and enhanced quality of social services; and lastly strengthen our efforts to promote stability and protection in fragile states, not least in Africa.

We will maintain the traditional strong focus on Africa in Denmark’s development cooperation and be willing to take risks when we engage in countries such as Somalia and South Sudan. 

A human rights-based development strategy is about placing people at the centre of our development partnerships as central actors in charge of their own development rather than passive recipients. A human rights-based approach also changes development cooperation from being an issue of charity, speaking of “donors” and “recipients”, to a mutual partnership based on the core human rights that almost all countries have signed up to. This way development cooperation can become a catalyst for country-led positive change. 

While the measure of results that can be achieved from outside may be modest, there is reason to be optimistic about what people can achieve by themselves from inside. As actors in international development, we can facilitate, inspire, assist and cooperate. We can promote peoples’ rights to have a say in their own lives, choose their governments in free and fair elections, participate in decision making, access information and hold their governments – and us – accountable. 

It is indeed a noble task and Denmark is ready to do its share.