The Advanced Human Rights Courses Programme (AHRC) held its annual short course on the right to development between 22 and 26 August 2016. The course aims to explore the content and scope of the right to development as enshrined in Article 22 of the African Charter as well as explore the challenges and opportunities of other international instruments in relation to development.

This year’s Advanced Human Rights Course on the Right to Development in Africa unlike in previous years has been one with many interesting dimensions and was organised in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development adopted in 1986. It also coincided with 30 years since the coming into force of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and 30 years of the founding of the Centre for Human Rights.

The keynote address delivered by Ms Florence Nazare on behalf of the CEO of NEPAD provided an insight into NEPAD as a supra-national mechanism to drive Africa’s development agenda.

For the very first time, two South African ministers from the Departments of Basic Education and Rural Development and Land Reform taught on the course.  Hon Angelina Motshekga gave a lecture on ‘challenges towards universal and compulsory basic education in South Africa’ while Hon Gugile Ernest Nkwinti looked at ‘challenges to rural development in South Africa’.