Thesis (LL. M.)--University of Toronto, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 149-151).

Using regime theory, we consider in this thesis whether there is evidence of the gradual establishment of norms, principles, rules and regulations governing donor policies with regards to linking foreign aid to human rights practices. We hypothesize that, despite the constraints caused by the multiplicity of foreign policy objectives for any given donor, there is evidence of a developing human rights regime in the foreign aid policies and practices of donors of aid. Using a historical approach, we study the aid policies and practices of two international organizations (the United Nations and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) and two aid donors (Norway and the United States). We investigate the donors' policy statements, monitoring mechanisms, policy implementation and changes in donor behavior for evidence of the presence of a regime. Our findings suggest regime development occurring over three distinct periods of time (1945-50; 1973-83; 1989-94), with the resulting regime operating at three distinct levels with varying degrees of efficiency and effectiveness.

No description available.

This thesis argues that development requires policies which promote comprehensive human development, rather than simple economic growth. While international law and the human rights system mandate that the individual be the central focus of the development paradigm, there are other reasons in addition to legal obligation to engage in people centred development planning. It also addresses the broad support for participatory processes found in the development planning literature. The World Bank is a multilateral development agency charged with providing low interest loans to developing nations. Frequently the development interventions financed by these loans violate the human rights of neighbouring residents. Such violations are contrary to the Bank's international legal obligations as a member of the United Nations system. This thesis enumerates steps the Bank must take to align its project planning and implementation policies with international human rights law. Chapter One summarizes World Bank history, addresses its structure, and discusses its lending policy then moves on to comment on the human rights system, providing the theory and methodology to be used throughout the thesis. The following chapters address specific Bank policies regulating project planning. Chapter Two discusses the policy regarding involuntary resettlement arising from development, and summarize the Bank's indigenous policy. Chapter Three concerns the Bank's environmental assessment policy. Chapter Four investigates two areas where no Bank policy has been developed, contrary to the requirements of the human rights system: formation of national development policies, and the detriments suffered by project affected people not covered by other policies. Each chapter discusses the nature of the relevant human rights issues, outlines Bank policy (where it exists), and recommends modifications and courses of action to bring the Bank into accordance with the human rights requirements. Chapter five reviews the conclusions reached in earlier chapters and offers a brief case study demonstrating how human rights can be practically applied in development projects. The World Bank must create policies consistent with international civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights to meet the challenges, and the legal obligations, of human development.

This thesis argues that development requires policies which promote comprehensive human development, rather than simple economic growth. While international law and the human rights system mandate that the individual be the central focus of the development paradigm, there are other reasons in addition to legal obligation to engage in people centred development planning. It also addresses the broad support for participatory processes found in the development planning literature. The World Bank is a multilateral development agency charged with providing low interest loans to developing nations. Frequently the development interventions financed by these loans violate the human rights of neighbouring residents. Such violations are contrary to the Bank's international legal obligations as a member of the United Nations system. This thesis enumerates steps the Bank must take to align its project planning and implementation policies with international human rights law. Chapter One summarizes World Bank history, addresses its structure, and discusses its lending policy then moves on to comment on the human rights system, providing the theory and methodology to be used throughout the thesis. The following chapters address specific Bank policies regulating project planning. Chapter Two discusses the policy regarding involuntary resettlement arising from development, and summarize the Bank's indigenous policy. Chapter Three concerns the Bank's environmental assessment policy. Chapter Four investigates two areas where no Bank policy has been developed, contrary to the requirements of the human rights system: formation of national development policies, and the detriments suffered by project affected people not covered by other policies. Each chapter discusses the nature of the relevant human rights issues, outlines Bank policy (where it exists), and recommends modifications and courses of action to bring the Bank into accordance with the human rights requirements. Chapter five reviews the conclusions reached in earlier chapters and offers a brief case study demonstrating how human rights can be practically applied in development projects. The World Bank must create policies consistent with international civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights to meet the challenges, and the legal obligations, of human development. / Law, Peter A. Allard School of / Graduate

No description available.

Successive Canadian federal governments have officially indicated their support of human rights in foreign policy, including as they relate to aid-giving. This thesis quantitatively tests this rhetoric with the actual practice of bilateral aid-giving in two time periods – 1998-2000 and 2007-2009. This, however, revealed that Canada has actually tended to give more bilateral aid to countries with poorer human rights records. A deeper quantitative analysis identifies certain multilateral memberships – notably with the Commonwealth, NATO, and OECD – and the geo-political and domestic considerations of Haiti as significant and confirms a recipient state’s human rights performance is not a consideration. These multilateral relationships reflect state self-interests, historical connections, security, and a normative commitment to poverty reduction. It is these factors that those promoting a human rights agenda need to contemplate if recipient state performance is to become relevant in bilateral aid decisions. Thus, it is necessary to turn to international relations theory, in particular liberal institutionalism, to explain Canada’s bilateral aid-giving in these periods. / vi, 141 leaves ; 29 cm

This study examines human rights in the North-South relations of three internationalist countries: Canada, the Netherlands, and Norway. It pays special attention to the integration of human rights in development aid policy, particularly the use of political conditionality. The theoretical framework examines the explanatory power of political Realism. A hypothesis linking policy assertiveness with the perceived costs to other national interests is tested by selecting Western states most likely to disprove Realist assumptions, and by choosing at least two Third World cases for each aid donor: one where economic, political and strategic interests are high, and another where the same interests are minimal or low. Three frameworks to (1) document human rights abuses; (2) evaluate national human rights performance; and (3) gauge foreign policy assertiveness serve as the methodological lenses to analyze Western statecraft and test the hypothesis. / Each donor's search for moral opportunity is visible in an emerging agenda to promote human rights and democratic development. However, if the resolve to defend human rights beyond national borders is gauged by a state's willingness to incur harm to other important national interests, then Canada, the Netherlands, and Norway are seldom disposed to let human rights trump more self-serving national interests. The potential for consistent and principled human rights statecraft is frequently undermined by Realism's cost-benefit rationality.

In the last few decades the European Union (EU) and its members have emphasized the importance of human rights and the need to improve human rights conditions in Third World countries. In this research project, I attempted to find out whether the European Union and its members practice what they preach by giving precedence to countries that respect human rights through their Official Development Assistance (ODA) program. Furthermore, I tried to analyze whether European integration occurs at the foreign policy level through aid allocation. Based on the literatures on political conditionality and on the relationship between human rights and foreign aid allocation, I expected that all EU members promote principles of good governance by rewarding countries that protect the human rights of their citizens. I conducted a cross-sectional time-series selection model over all recipients of ODA for each of the twelve members for which I have data, the European Commission, and the aggregate EU disbursements from 1979 to 1998.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The petroleum industry concern itself with natural resource extracting activities which are highly sensitive for contributing to environmental degradation by oil spills or gas flaring. A large proportion of the world’s oil and gas reserves is located in developing countries where the presence of multinational oil corporations (MNOCs) is high as host countries often lack the infrastructure needed or are financially unable to conduct extracting operations on their own. The Niger Delta in southern Nigeria has one of the largest oil reserves in Africa and is one of the world’s leading oil exporters. MNOCs like Shell, Chevron, Total, ExxonMobil and Statoil are some of the firms present in the Niger Delta region. The oil-rich area in the developing country poses high levels of political risk for the MNOCs. Local grievances, paired with environmental degradation and human rights violations by the oil companies, have led to a tense relationship between the local stakeholders and the MNOCs, with so-called petro-violence at the center of the oil conflict. Frequently, oil installations are sabotaged and crude oil is stolen, causing major financial losses for the firms, and armed attacks on oil facilities and kidnapping of MNOCs’ staff constitute the majority of political risks facing MNOCs operating in the Niger Delta. This study investigates how MNOCs can successfully manage such political risks, providing a business advantage in a challenging business environment. By addressing the companys’ own behaviour, the research analyses if social engagement through corporate social responsibility (CSR) can mitigate political risk in the Niger Delta. The study looks at two different MNOCs operating in the Niger delta, Shell and Statoil, and scrutinises their methods of implementation of their CSR initiatives. The difference in approaches to CSR is elucidated where Shell claims it has repositioned its approach from a top-down angle during the first years of conducting CSR projects, to a more stakeholder-oriented approach. Yet, their approach is still found to carry elements of the previous top-down approach, and has not resulted in satisfactory performance in relation to stated goals. Statoil undertakes a stakeholder-oriented bottom-up approach, executed with a high level of commitment. The stated CSR goals have to a great extent been met. By assessing the two companies’ CSR strategies in relation to the frequency of political risks experienced by each MNOC, the study finds that CSR has the potential to mitigate political risk depending on the approach to implementation, and could serve as a political risk management strategy. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die brandstofbedryf is betrokke by die ontginning van natuurlike hulpbronne, ’n aktiwiteit wat hoogs sensitief is vir sy bydrae tot omgewingsbesoedeling as gevolg van storting van olie en opvlamming van gas. ’n Baie groot deel van die wêreld se olie en gas reserwes word aangetref in ontwikkelende lande. Die teenwoordigheid van Multinasionale Olie Korporasies (MNOKs) in hierdie lande is groot omdat daar gewoonlik ’n gebrek aan toepaslike infrastruktuur is en die lande ook nie finansieel in staat mag wees om die ontginning op hulle eie te doen nie. Die Niger Delta in die Suide van Nigerië beskik oor een van die grootste olie reserwes in Afrika en is een van die voorste olie uitvoerders in die wêreld. Shell, Chevron, Total, ExxonMobil en Statoil is van die bekende MNOK wat ontginning doen in die Niger Delta gebied. Die olieryke gebiede in ’n ontwikkelende land kan groot politieke risiko vir die MNOKs inhou. Plaaslike griewe gekoppel aan omgewings besoedeling en menseregte skendings deur die oliemaatskappye het gelei tot ’n gespanne verhouding tussen hulle en die plaaslike belange groepe, en sogenaamde “petrogeweld” staan sentraal hierin. Heel gereeld word olie-installasies gesaboteer en ru-olie word gesteel, wat natuurlik groot finansiële verliese die firmas inhou. Daarby word gewapende aanvalle op die olie-installasies uitgevoer en van die MNOKs se personeel ontvoer. Al hierdie dinge vorm die groot politieke risiko’s wat die MNOKs in die Niger Delta in die gesig staar. Hierdie studie ondersoek hoe die MNOKs met welslae hierdie politieke risiko’s kan teenwerk om vir hulle ’n suksesvolle besigheid te vestig in ’n baie mededingende bedryfsomgewing. Deur te kyk na die maatskappy se eie gedrag, sal die navorsing analiseer of gemeenskapsbetrokkenheid deur korporatiewe sosiale verantwoordelikheid (KSV) die politieke risiko in die Niger Delta kan temper. Die studie kyk na twee verskillende MNOK wat in die gebied bedryf word, Shell en Statoil, en kyk noukeurig na die manier waarop hulle KSV inisiatiewe toegepas word. Die verskil in benadering tot die probleem word toegelig deur die feit dat Shell beweer dat hulle ’n bo-na-onder benadering in die beginjare van KSV projekte verander het na ’n beleid waar meer na die betrokkenheid van belangegroepe gekyk word. Tog word gevind dat daar nog oorblyfsels is van die bo-na-onder benadering en dat doelwitte wat gestel is nie bevredigend bereik is nie. Statoil daarenteen. Implementeer ’n onder-na-bo benadering met betrokkenheid van belangegroepe en ’n hoë vlak van toewyding deur die maatskappy. Die gestelde KSV doelwitte is grootliks behaal. Deur te kyk na die twee maatskappye se ervaring van politieke risiko in verhouding met hulle KSV strategieë bevind hierdie studie dat KSV wel die potensiaal het om, as dit suksesvol toegepas word, politieke risiko te temper en dus kan die as ’n strategie om sodanige risiko te bestuur.