Over the last few decades, the global economy has experienced unprecedented growth. However, this expansion has been accompanied by rising inequality, both within and between countries (Piketty, 2014). While development discourse has traditionally prioritised GDP expansion as the primary metric of progress, such growth does not necessarily translate into broadly shared prosperity. As the international community works toward the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, SDG 10, which calls for reducing inequality within and among countries, stands out as one of the most challenging goals to achieve (United Nations, 2015). This paper argues that achieving SDG 10 requires centering human rights frameworks in development policy, as growth-focused approaches alone have consistently failed to distribute prosperity equitably. The analysis proceeds in four parts: first, an examination of the limitations of growth-centered development; second, an exploration of how human rights principles align with and operationalise SDG 10; third, a discussion of implementation challenges; and finally, an analysis of successful rights-based models.
Columbia University (2026) studied this question.