Inequality Between North And South

Governments in the countries of the developing world were not slow to realize that these policies had a tendency to benefit the developed countries and that the latter's control of resources resulted in a considerable disadvantage for the least developed countries. Beginning in the late seventies, governments of the least developed countries have been promoting a reallocation of resources from the North to the South.

This has been accompanied by the realization that whatever economic benefits have flowed from economic growth - and they have been considerable - have not necessarily benefited the poor in either set of countries.

The vigorous debate on equity between countries resulted in the Declaration on the Right to Development adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1986. However, declarations are not legally binding instruments and there is no treaty that commit governments to implement the Declaration. Nevertheless, in 1993 the notion that development was an inalienable human right was reaffirmed at the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in a consensus by over 180 governments.