THE EMERGING CUSTOM OF HUMAN RIGHTS-BASED DEVELOPMENT: A MODEL AGREEMENT FOR SUCCESSFUL EXPLOITATION OF LAKE ALBERT’S OIL RESERVESDecember 22nd, 2008
FiledDecember 22nd, 2008Abstract: The 2006 discovery of oil reserves beneath Lake Albert on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda has spawned both tension and attempts at cooperative development. History demonstrates that the process of exploiting natural resources is almost inevitably interwoven with violations of the human rights of local popula- tions. This Note catalogs the possible human rights violations that can oc- cur with the development of a natural resource such as oil, and discusses the growing pattern and practice of using human rights-based planning in international development agreements. The author proposes that in- corporating human rights-based planning into the development agree- ment between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda may help to prevent violations of the recognized rights of the population in the Lake Albert region.