An integrative rights-based approach to human development in Africaby Dejo Olowu2009ISBN: 978-0-9814124-6-7Pages: x 322Print version: AvailableElectronic version: Free PDF available.

There is consensus amongst the various theories on the rights-based approach to development that the full realisation of human rights should be a vital goal of development efforts. The integrative rights-based approach to human development canvassed in this book perceives human rights as vital components of development programmes and policies that must necessarily be integrated in all processes designed to deliver the promises of development. This approach contemplates people-centred modalities for development in ways that emphasise equality and non-discrimination; accountability and transparency; and popular participation.

Poverty, exclusion and lack of participation are symptomatic of state and market-based approaches to human rights. Oche Onazi uses Nigeria as a case study to show how the idea of community is a better alternative, capable of inspiring the poor and the vul

Human rights based approaches (HRBA) to development by scholars and practitioners alike have led to the expansion of laws protecting women's rights in Africa, particularly in the realm of family law. The paradox is that the increase in laws has not resulted in greater equality and justice for women. To be sure, the implementation of new laws will inevitably take time. There are two important consequences of HRBA in Africa: 1) a growing gap between law-in-the-books and law-in-practice and 2) a backlash, in some cases, against woman-friendly family laws. This paper explores challenges to access to justice for women in various African countries. It considers the context of legal hybridity in Africa and how this influences women's access to rights. It examines pathways to the protection of women's rights, including the Protocol to the African Charter for Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa and programs that promote the training of paralegals as a method of increasing access to justice. The paper argues that “African” mechanisms such as the Protocol and paralegals are important elements to women achieving sustainable access to rights. Paralegals are an integral part of the justice chain. Their familiarity with community norms, as well as legal awareness, makes them crucial to bridging the gap between the law-in-the-books and law-in-practice. As legal reforms take place across Africa, paralegals, properly trained in the new laws, may offer the best opportunity for helping individuals access justice in ways that do not alienate them from their communities.

In The Right to Development in Africa, Carol Chi Ngang provides a conceptual analysis of the human right to development with a decolonial critique of the requirement to have recourse to development cooperation as a mechanism for its realisation. In his argumentation, the setbacks to development in Africa are not necessarily caused by the absence of development assistance but principally as a result of the lack of an operational model to steer the processes for development towards the highest attainable standard of living for the peoples of Africa. Basing on the decolonial and capability theories, he posits for a shift in development thinking from dependence on development assistance to an alternative model suited to Africa, which he defines as the right to development governance.