One of the most proclaimed weaknesses of the international human rights system is the so-called implementation gap. It occurs in various forms and shapes and surfaces in numerous conventions, declarations, norms, guidelines, protocols, and myriad other instruments containing international human rights obligations or commitments. Under international human rights law, a logical response to identified gaps would be to strengthen the obligation side of a standard and to raise its legal standing and enforceability. Yet, as this notorious gap affects legal standards of varying degrees of legal force, this response might not be the only or even the preferred one to reach the goal, namely, to close this gap. For human beings, whose rights are infringed through failure to protect, respect or fulfill, addressing the implementation gap is not always a legal question. What matters more than technical compliance with legal standards are practical measures that deliver results. In order to deliver results in an international context, therefore, it is necessary to work from a common starting point towards common goals with a common understanding of the key concepts. Focusing on the right to development and anchored on the human dimensions to development, this paper contends that it is paramount to reconceptualize the politically difficult processes of finding consensus around the legal form and content of the right. Otherwise, isolated efforts to implement it without a solid legal foundation will remain unsustainable.
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