This study explores lessons learned by UN agencies in the implementation of the human rights-based approach to development cooperation reveals both common constraints and common solutions. The lessons drawn from the experiences of those agencies that have progressed the human rights-based approach include the need for strategic training programmes for agency staff at all levels as well as for national and international partners; institutional changes within agencies based on clear messages from the highest levels, coherence in the demands imposed by different policies, and the integration of human rights in planning documents and frameworks; and, finally, the more systematic sharing of practical experiences in overcoming obstacles to the implementation of the approach within and outside the agencies. Constraints shared by most agencies include a lack of political will at national level, resistance by governments to accept any dialogue based on human rights either because of their human rights record or for fear of another form of conditionality, lack of awareness of or understanding by UN staff and national partners of the nature and core content of rights, and scepticism within the agency over the value of the human rights-based approach, often seen as yet another development fad.
