• DOI:10.1080/0961452032000125956
• Corpus ID: 31304273

Research round up

@article{HarrisCurtis2003ResearchRU,
  title={Research round up},
  author={Emma Harris-Curtis},
  journal={Noise \& Vibration Worldwide},
  year={2003},
  volume={45},
  pages={18 - 21}
}

• E. Harris-Curtis
• Published 1 November 2003
• Education
• Noise & Vibration Worldwide

The recent increase in the number of publications, training courses, NGO policy statements on mainstreaming rights, as well as workshops and conference papers from International Financial Institutions (IFIs) on rights-based approaches is testimony to the importance that development professionals attach to the concept. However, as pointed out by the UNHCR (2001), ‘there is no single, universally agreed rights-based approach, although there may be an emerging consensus on the basic constituent elements’. Furthermore, the implications of adopting such an approach do not appear to have been comprehensively questioned, though many organisations are making explicit policy changes to mainstream rightsbased approaches. For instance, DFiD and Oxfam GB have committed to it, Save the Children Fund has returned to its roots in children’s rights issues, and the World Bank is exploring ways to mainstream a rights approach. Despite this commitment to some kind of rights-based approach, the questioning of its viability is conspicuous by its absence. This article seeks to explore some of the key issues associated with the adoption of a rights-based approach that are relevant to NGOs. Contentious issues of the rights debate