This article reviews rights-based approaches in development aid agencies. It begins by identifying some of the ways in which agencies can incorporate human rights into their policies and activities. It then examines the extent to which rights-based approaches can be said to have been adopted and the factors that facilitate or constrain this transformation. Finally, it points to some of the current challenges facing agencies attempting to close the gap between their rights-based approaches and mainstream development policy and practice. The findings determine that all these domains and more, human rights are not yet informing the setting of development goals, used to assess processes and outcomes, or shaping relations between partners.