Development activity is increasingly rights based. Rights are a legal concept and are enshrined in the national constitutions. But there are also ‘traditional, religious or cultural rights' that may or may not recognised by the law. The distribution, access and usage of land, the relationship between men and women and social insurance are often based more on tradition or culture than on the law. Rights based development means either lobbying national governments to adopt rights agreed and ratified by the UN Assembly or enabling people to access rights that are enshrined in the national constitution. Occasionally, where appropriate, AA International Ltd will, in the course of its work facilitate communities to lobby their national governments. The major service, however, will be advice on what rights are already guaranteed by the constitution.

In certain cases, constitutions are not ratified nor promulgated, in such situations AAInternational Ltd will take local advice. The status of traditional, cultural or religious based rights while not necessarily legally based are deemed very important by communities especially in the crucial areas of the rights of women and men, of natural resources management and livelihoods and in conflict resolution. In certain cases there is tension and even a contradiction between the adoption of UN rights at the national level and the use of traditional norms. AA International Ltd will work within a rights based approach and has experience of adopting this approach in Eritrea, Uganda and Sudan.