RECASTING WID: A HUMAN RIGHTS APPROACH

This paper intends to provide a foundation from which a human rights approach to women in development can emerge. For development researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers, this analysis will represent a significant shift in thinking about the goals and objectives of women in development by placing the substance of their work within an internationally recognized and legally binding ormative framework. For human rights scholars and advocates, the paper will explore how the realization by women of their human rights can be achieved outside the courtroom, and how traditional human rights work – that is, events based documentation of violations and the delineation of the core content of key enumerated rights can be enhanced by data collection and analytical tools, project implementation methodologies,and advocacy strategies that development practitioners have utilized for years. By bringing together a wide range of approaches aimed at the advancement of women through a human rights framework, a variety of actors can work in concert to create a significantly broader human rights and development agenda.