2. Law
Human rights as a concept
Values and norms for protection of human dignity, laid
down in legal texts which entail rights for individuals and
obligations for states.
Objective:
Subjective:
Duty bearer
3. Law
Categories of human rights:
Civil and political rights
Economic, social and cultural rights
Collective or group rights
4. Law
Economic, social and cultural rights
Rights relating to an adequate standard of living;
Conditions under which people live and work;
Claims to the fulfillment of basic needs;
Claims relating to the quality of life from a material and
immaterial perspective;
Claims relating to opportunities to make a living and
the protection of working conditions.
5. Law
Poverty
Amartya Sen’s capability approach:
A person’s freedom or opportunities to achieve well-being.
Poverty: low levels of capability.
“the failure to reach certain minimally acceptable levels of
basic capabilities”.
Basic capabilities: being adequately nourished, clothed and
sheltered, avoiding preventable morbidity, taking part in
community life and being able to appear in public with
dignity.
6. Law
Poverty as a broad concept:
• Inadequate command over economic resources (work
generated income)
• Insufficient command over publicly provided goods and
services (housing, health, education)
• Inadequate command over or access to resources that are
made available through formal and informal networks of
support (social security and social assistance)
7. Law
Voices of the Poor (World Bank, 2000)
• “Poverty is lack of freedom, enslaved by crushing daily
burden, by depression and fear of what the future will
bring.” (Georgia)
• “For a poor person everything is terrible – illness,
humiliation, shame. We are cripples; we are afraid of
everything; we depend on everyone. No one needs us. We
are like garbage that everyone wants to get rid of.” –
(A blind woman from Tiraspol, Moldova.)
8. Law
• “Poverty is like living in jail, living under bondage,
waiting to be free.” (Jamaica)
• “If you want to do something and have no power to do it, it
is talauchi (poverty).” (Nigeria)
9. Law
Extreme poverty
The combination of:
Income poverty: low income or purchasing power to
secure basic needs.
Development poverty: extreme or severe deprivation of
elements of well-being, such as health, education, food,
housing.
Social exclusion: As a consequence of marginalization,
discrimination and exclusion in social relations. People
lack basic security and the capability to lead a life of value.
10. Law
Impoverishment:
A worsening of the poverty as a result of a deliberate
policy of the state.
Failure/indifference by the state to embark on active
and effective policies for poverty alleviation.
11. Law
Capability approach , poverty and human rights
The capability approach defines poverty as the absence or
inadequate realization of certain basic freedoms.
Negative: Interference with pursuit of freedom
Positive: creation of an enabling environment
12. Law
Consequently, poverty can be assessed as:
Failure of basic freedoms (capability perspective)
Non-fullfilment of rights ( human rights perspective)
13. Law
Non-fullfilment of human rights would count as poverty
when it meets the following two conditions:
The human rights correspond to the capabilities,
considered basic by a given society.
Inadequate command over economic resources, a role in
the causal chain leading to the non-fullfilment of human
rights.
14. Law
Poverty and human rights lens
A condition characterized by sustained or chronic
deprivation of the resources, capabilities, choices, security
and power necessary for an adequate standard of living and
other rights.
Poverty constitutes a denial of human rights.
(UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
Statement on Poverty, 2001)
15. Law
contd
Poverty is seen as a phenomenon whereby individuals
and families are subjected to poverty by external forces
and decisions which have nothing to do with them and
over which most of the time they have no control.
Poverty appears as an arbitrary imposition on certain
individuals and groups, and constitutes a flagrant type of
discrimination.
16. Law
Violation of human rights?
A violation is an act or omission (failure to act) which
destroys or harms the human right, an individual or a state is
obliged to respect or fulfill.
17. Law
The United Nations
The United Nations presently sees poverty as a
cause and a product of human rights violations.
Poverty is characterized by discrimination,
unequal access to resources and social and cultural
stigmatization. It amounts to a denial of human
rights and human dignity.
Fighting poverty is a matter of obligation, not of
aspiration or charity.
18. Law
General Assembly of the United Nations:
“The existence of widespread extreme poverty inhibits the
full and effective enjoyment of human rights and in some
situations, constitute a threat to the right to live.”
19. Law
Normative Legal Framework
International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights (1966); Article 2(1) + 6-15
Declaration on the Right to Development (1986)
Vienna Declaration – World Conference (1993):
“All human rights are universal, indivisible,
interdependent and interrelated.”
20. Law
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights (1966)
Article 2(1):
Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to
take steps, individually and through international
assistance and cooperation, especially economic and
technical, to the maximum of its available resources, with a
view to achieving progressively the full realization of the
rights recognized in the present Covenant by all
appropriate means, including particularly the adoption of
legislative measures.
21. Law
Declaration on the Right to Development (1986)
‘Development is a comprehensive economic, social, cultural
and political process, which aims at the constant
improvement of the well-being of the entire population and
of all individuals on the basis of their active, free and
meaningful participation in development and in the fair
distribution of benefits resulting therefrom.’
22. Law
Core human rights obligations
“(...) the Committee is of the view that a minimum core
obligation to ensure the satisfaction of, at the very least,
minimum essential levels of each of the rights is
incumbent upon every State party.
Thus, for example, a State party in which any
significant number of individuals is deprived of
essential foodstuffs, of essential primary health care, of
basic shelter and housing, or of the most basic forms of
education is, prima facie, failing to discharge its
obligations under the Covenant.”
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
General Comment no. 3, § 10.
23. Law
UN-Millennium Declaration (2000)
“We will spare no efforts to free our fellow men,
women and children from the abject and
dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty, to
which more than a billion of them are currently
subjected. We are committed to making the right
to development a reality for everyone and to
freeing the entire human race from want.”
24. Law
Human Rights Principles Underlying Poverty Reduction
• Universality and Indivisibility
• Equality and Non-Discrimination
• Participation and Inclusion
• Empowerment of Poor People
• Accountability and the Rule of Law
• State obligations: progressive realization of rights
• Obligation of International Cooperation
25. Law
Poverty reduction strategies should depart from a human
rights based approach:
National level: pro-poor programs
Vulnerable and marginalized groups
Priorities in the budget;
IMF and World Bank programs;
Bilateral development cooperation.
26. Law
Added Value of human rights to poverty reduction:
• International legal human rights obligations accepted
voluntarily add legitimacy to poverty reduction.
• Recognition of complementarities between economic,
social, cultural, civil and political rights.
• Focus on both processes and goals of development.
• Emphasis on legal obligations to realize essential services.
• Accountability of policy-makers.
