Right to Development in International Law: A Human Rights-Based Approach D.P. Verma* Abstract A classical description of development as monopolised by economic thinkers puts emphasis on industrialisation, capital inflows and gross development product. The meaning of development has moved towards the human dimension since 1980s. The notion of economic growth has little to do with the renewed vision of development as it has found manifestation in the human rights-based approach to the right to development. Such a perception facilitates a different conception. In this context, the meaning and nature of development needs examination in order to conceptualise ingredients and contents of the right to development, alongwith its normative foundation as the third generation of human rights (the solidarity rights) under international law. Keywords: Solidarity, Interdependence, Cooperation, Individual Rights, Collective Rights INTRODUCTION The idea of the right to development, as one of the several rights belonging to the third generation of human rights, was first conceptualised by a Senegalese lawyer Keba M’Baye in his first lecture at the International Institute of Human Rights (Strasbourg, France) in 1972.1While the first generation of human rights consisted of the civil and political rights as freedom from state intervention, the second generation comprised of the economic, social and cultural rights to be provided by the state. Contrary to them, the third generation of human rights is composed of solidarity for development, environment, peace, communication, humanitarian assistance, and common heritage of mankind.2 An earlier recognition to the right to development may be found in the Declaration of Philadelphia in 1944. Later, the Constitution of the International Labour Organization incorporated that principle of the Declaration in 1946 that all human beings, irrespective of race, creed or sex, “have the right to pursue both their material well-being and their *Member, Law Commission of India, New Delhi. 1 Krzystof Drzewicki, ‘The Right of Solidarity — The Third Generation of Human Rights’ (1984) 53 Nordisk Tidsskrift for International Ret 26, 29. 2 Stephen Marks, ‘The Human Right to Development: Between Rhetoric and Reality’ (2004) 17 Harvard Human Rights Journal 137, 138; Stephen P. Marks, ‘Emerging Human Rights: A New Generation for the 1980?’ (1981) 33 Rutgers Law Review 435, 435-452. Journal of the National Human Rights Commission, Vol. 22, 2023 1