PHA-Exchange> Food for a legally binding thought

[claudio at hcmc.netnam.vn]

Human Rights Reader 162

HUMAN RIGHTS AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION

Human rights may seem distant ideals for families starving or unable to 
protect themselves from preventable illnesses or provide their children with 
basic education. Yet it is in these circumstances of crisis, of social ill-
being and of extreme deprivation that HR assume their greatest importance.

1. To enforce and strengthen poverty reduction strategies, we absolutely have 
to have a detailed normative understanding of many human rights (HR). 
Actually, poverty reduction and the enforcement of HR are not two separate 
projects, but two mutually reinforcing approaches to the same project.

2. Command over economic resources does play an important role in defining 
poverty, but is not the only requirement. Poverty also includes insufficient 
command over publicly provided goods and services. All of these play a role in 
the causal chain leading to the non-fulfillment of HR.

3. The ratification of HR treaties explicitly entails country ownership of 
their relevant provisions; a ratified treaty is, therefore, legally binding on 
all branches of government. In the case of poverty reduction, the binding 
provisions of HR treaties compel all these branches to look behind national 
averages and identify the most vulnerable, deprived and excluded individuals 
and groups.
[But beware, international HR law does not --and cannot-- provide detailed 
prescriptions for action towards poverty reduction though. The same have to be 
provided by each individual country with the government working together with 
the various organizations of civil society].

4. Rich countries and international organizations also should feel compelled --
but are not obligated in clear enough terms by international HR law-- to 
provide international assistance and cooperation to poor countries to reduce 
poverty by, at the very least, helping them to fulfill their core HR 
obligations* to reach the international minimum thresholds for the same.  Aid, 
debt relief, a fair access to international markets, access to public and 
private financial flows and stability in the global economy are all required 
for the full realization of rights in poor countries.  Therefore, 
international cooperation is not just about technical and financial 
assistance. It is also to include the obligation to work actively towards an 
equitable multilateral trade, investment and financial system that is 
conducive to the reduction and elimination of poverty.
[*: Core obligations require states to ensure, with immediate effect, certain 
minimum levels of enjoyment of various HR.  They are treated as binding, i.e., 
no trade-offs are permitted. The core obligations provide the basic normative 
framework around which the poverty reduction strategy should be designed. If a 
strategy does not, at least, reflect these core obligations, it is 
inconsistent with the state’s legally binding obligations].

5. The setting of priorities at the national level must involve the effective 
participation of all stake holders especially the poor and the otherwise 
marginalized. The right to participate must, therefore, be enshrined in 
national law(s) since it is deeply dependent on the realization of other HR 
(of association, of assembly, of freedom of expression, the right to 
information and to a reasonable standard of living). Without parallel 
arrangements to realize these other rights, poor people cannot participate in 
an active and informed manner. But beware: No HR can be given precedence over 
others; nevertheless, based on practical grounds, different rights can still 
be given priority at different stages of the progressive realization of HR** --
provided there is also no retrogression***.
[**:  Progressive realization implies realization of a HR over a period of 
time; it allows setting priorities among different rights (certain conditions 
on these features apply though, to ensure that states do not take it as a 
license either to defer or to relax the efforts needed to realize more and 
more HR). Measures that can be taken include reducing spending on activities 
whose benefits go disproportionately to the rich. For a progressive 
realization, the state must begin immediately implementing a time-bound plan 
of action; it must spell out when and how the state hopes to arrive at the 
full realization of the rights being addressed. The plan must include a series 
of intermediate targets (benchmarks) with identified indicators for each 
target.  Provided a state is taking all reasonable measures towards the 
realization of those rights that are subject to progressive realization, the 
state will be in compliance with its obligations under international HR law.
***: Non retrogression implies that no right can deliberately be allowed to 
suffer an absolute decline in its level of realization].

6. Therefore, state parties have:

•An obligation of conduct that requires them to launch actions (a process) to 
realize the enjoyment of core and other rights by their population, i.e., a 
plan of action to reduce particular violations of HR is needed.

•An obligation of result that requires them to achieve specific targets 
(outcomes) to satisfy particular standards of HR.

7. In poverty reduction, for the affected to acquire a political voice is a 
matter of rights, not matter of privilege. For poor people, the challenge is 
to weaken the web that perpetuates their powerlessness. Properly applied, the 
HR-based framework can and does mitigate the powerlessness of poor people. 
(Here, we understand empowerment as the expansion of the capabilities of poor 
people to participate, negotiate with, influence, control and hold accountable 
institutions that affect their lives).

8. Last, but not least, unless supported by a system of accountability, rights 
become no more than window-dressing. Mechanisms of accountability are, right 
now, simply not accessible to the poor.

9. There are four categories of accountability mechanisms:
•	judicial, 
•	quasi-judicial (ombudsmen, national HR commissions), 
•	administrative (HR impact assessments sent to UN bodies), and 
•	political (the press, political parties, elections?).
[We take for granted that elections are an essential, but not sufficient form 
of accountability. Elections are not enough to ensure that those living in 
poverty enjoy the right to participate in key decisions affecting their lives].

In Conclusion:
10. Poverty reduction should be based explicitly on the norms and values set 
out in the international law of HR.
The HR-based framework offers an explicit and compelling normative framework 
for poverty reduction; compelling, because the norms and values enshrined in 
it have the potential to empower the poor. Poverty reduction is not possible 
without the empowerment of the poor. The HR-based approach to poverty 
reduction is essentially about such an empowerment process.
Poverty reduction no longer derives merely from the fact that the poor have 
needs, but also from the fact that they have rights that give rise to legal 
obligations on the part of the non-poor. Poverty reduction then becomes more 
than a moral obligation --it becomes a legal obligation. The recognition of 
the existence of legal entitlements of the poor and legal obligations of the 
non-poor towards them is the first step towards the needed empowerment.

Claudio Schuftan, Ho Chi Minh City
claudio at hcmc.netnam.vn
______________________________________
Adapted from Human Rights and Poverty Reduction, A Conceptual Framework, 
OHCHR, UN, New York and Geneva, 2004.




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