African Right to Identity as a Right to Development: A Media Right Agenda

The Right to Development is still a highly contested concept in academic and political circles. However, it is evident that irrespective of the divide of the debate, all known declarations including the United Nations, the UN Millennium Declaration, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights among others are yet to have a lasting impact on the liberation and the overall development of Africa and African descent. Hence, in order to find solutions around the right to development from the African perspective, this paper aims to reconcile the divergent views on the right to development and propose a way forward beyond the present rhetoric. This paper employs content and discourse analysis with in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Major existing declarations will be content analyzed and discourse analysis of relevant literature carried out in order to find a common thread. The initial findings will be subjected to focus group discussions and in-depth interviews of scholars from the Faculty of Arts, Social Sciences, Civil development organizations, and Media practitioners. The paper intends to reflect a need for psychological and cultural regeneration of Africans in order to achieve self-discovery and equal participation in global affairs. This African rebirth would be based on African Media Right Agenda. The proposed agenda will specify Africans’ right to be portrayed as a dignified race (The United Nations Declaration of human rights Article 19, Race and Racial Prejudice Article 5, and Cultural Diversity and Human Rights Article 6). Furthermore, the paper envisaged African Media Right Agenda as a movement to bridge the knowledge gap about Africa and to counter ideological manipulation through the repositioning of African Universities Curricula. This paper is of the opinion that African rights to development can be pursued through a dedicated African Media International Network (AMIN) managed and financed by Africans