States have reaffirmed the central importance of the development dimension in every aspect of the Doha Work
Program. EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson declared on 30 November 2005 that “The Doha Round is
different from all previous trade rounds because it is focused on ensuring that the world’s poorest countries benefit
from the global trading system. Any final outcome that does not reflect their needs will be unacceptable (...).”
The FIDH welcomes these declarations about the final objective of trade, and recalls that the preambule of the
Marrakech agreement establishing the WTO provides that “relations in the field of trade and economic endeavour
should be conducted with a view to raising standards of living, ensuring full employment.”
The FIDH recalls that the right to development “is an inalienable human right by virtue of which every human
person and all peoples are entitled to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political
development, in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realized.”
Development cannot be
separated from enjoyment of human rights and as stated by the Final Declaration and Programme of Action
adopted by 171 States at the 1993 Vienna Conference on Human Rights “Democracy, development and respect
for human rights and fundamental freedoms are interdependent and mutually reinforcing.”