The right to development, Macquarie Law School said in a statement, “is the right of every human being to participate in, to contribute to and to benefit from economic, social, cultural and political development”.

“More than 35 years after the adoption of the Declaration on the Right to Development, billions of people across the world are yet to see their right to development realised. In 2016, the UN Human Rights Council appointed the first special rapporteur on the right to development to represent this mandate,” the institution noted.

Professor Deva is the director of the Centre for Environmental Law and professor at Macquarie Law School, as well as being “an internationally recognised scholar” in the field of business and human rights, and has extensive experience advising UN agencies, governments, national human rights institutions, multinational corporations, trade unions and civil society organisations.

In the role, Professor Deva will — Macquarie Law School went on — develop international standards in relation to the right to development, present annual reports to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva and UN General Assembly in New York, provide technical advice to governments, conduct country visits to assess how states are implementing the right to development, and accept complaints against states and other actors breaching the right to development.

Speaking about the appointment, Professor Deva said: “I am honoured and delighted to take up the role of the UN special rapporteur on the right to development.

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“By adopting an inclusive, consultative and intersectional approach, I will aim to mainstream the right to development and push for its realisation in all world regions.”

Professor Deva will commence his term — which will last for an initial period of three years — on 1 May.